Our Endless Journey
by Welt Ende
Summary: Before reaching the Boar Hat, Elizabeth who just escaped from the Holy Knights, hoping to find the location of the Sins, decided to trust the rumor that had she heard once in her childhood; the existence of a "Witch" living in an underground maze who could grant infinite knowledge. However she never expected that this witch would accompany her! And she is actually no other than...?
1. Prologue

**A/N.: Hello everyone! I never expected to do another Nanatsu fanfic but this show how much I came to like this serie. I hope that you will come to enjoy this story!**

* * *

Somebody was crying.

He was crying so loudly, despair filling his cries as tears continued to descend from his eyes...

His fist was punching the ground angrily, cracking it like a spiderweb, he was kneeling on the dirty ground of that mountain, not even caring about the mud getting on his clothes.

His emotions were on berserk, he couldn't even keep his composure on.

That person was in front of a grave.

A wooden cross-shaped grave, under that ground, someone was buried.

A dead person, someone's corpse, and probably one that belonged to someone precious to that crying person.

And 'It' was watching it happen.

For some reason, it seems that this person couldn't see 'It', neither he could hear 'Its' voice.

He just was there, kneeling down and crying his heart out.

And for some other reason, instinctively, 'It' knew who this person was, even though they never met each other, even though they didn't even know each other's name...

"I promised you... that even if you die, I will fulfill my promise with you...!"

This person was saying so, trying to repress his sobs and gritting teeths.

"That's why, just wait! One day... for sure, I will...!"

_...Understood._

'It' said so and turned 'Its' back to him, 'It' left this place.

There was no answer to expect from someone to couldn't even notice 'It'.

But even so, if this could give 'It' a reason of living, while 'It' originally existed without a purpose, then...

* * *

"...?" Meliodas raised his gaze upward, the tears streamed down his face didn't stopped but shortly, his face's despairing and sad expression turned into a slightly confused one as he started to look around him.

_'Just now... was there someone right here?' _He couldn't prevent such a thought from going through his mind.

This place was where he just buried Elizabeth's first reincarnation's corpse. Even though he was alone all along, even though it was impossible for anyone to have gotten close to him without him noticing it, even if he felt so much grief that his heart would break currently, even if he was weaker compared to his past self, his skills are still strong enough to prevent any surprise attack.

**If so then why couldn't he shake off the feeling that someone was just besides him right now?** Even though that the faint presence he just felt earlier disappeared in an instant...

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**A/N.:**** I'll try to update as much as I can and when I can. Please leave your impressions and a review! The so-called witch would actually appear at the next chapter!**


	2. Introduction Arc - I

**A/N.: Hello everyone! Here is the first official chapter, the famous meeting between the princess and the witch! I hope that you will enjoy it!**

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**INTRODUCTION ARC - I : _The Princess and the Witch_**

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"_What do you mean that Princess Elizabeth is nowhere to be found?!_"

"_We originally thought that she would be together with His Majesty, however when we forced the throne room open His Majesty was alone and there was no one at his sides. We even searched through the whole castle!_"

"_Hurry up and find her! We cannot afford ourselves to lose her, it's an order from the Lord Great Holy Knights!_"

A young woman was hiding from the other side of the wall where she heard the voices of the Holy Knights that were after her.

She has long straight silver hair reaching her waist and a left blue eye, her right eye was covered with her bangs making it impossible to see. She wore a long blue dress made from fine material which showed her position as a member of nobility. She was no other than Elizabeth Liones, the third princess of Liones Kingdom that those people were searching for.

_'Father, I'm sorry! Please forgive me...!'_ So she apologized in her mind, as she was now unable to apologize further to her father who pushed her to escape alone while she wanted him to escape together. However it couldn't be helped, his worsening health and the quick breakthrough of the Holy Knights didn't allowed such a thing to happen. So in the end, Elizabeth had no choice but to escape alone through the hidden passage of the castle inside the wall that only her and him knew about. There was no worry about her being found here immediately but even so she had to escape as quickly as she could.

_'I promise that I will definitively be back with help!'_ She swore so in her heart and then picked the hems of her long dress before running forward into the dark pathway of the hidden passage as she started to plan her escape.

She hardly thought that any citizien of Liones would be eager to help her because even though they may think the same about the horrible treatment that the Holy Knights are making them go through and force the untrained to become soldiers for a war, they can't oppose them openly due to their fear of them. So in order to search for help, she needed to escape from Liones itself. She heard that her father had good relations with the king of Camelot however it seems that since his death, a new king took over his role and she didn't even knew if he would help her. Wait, her father's acquaintance...?

_'...! I remember, about what Father told me in the past! The Seven Deadly Sins...'_

The Seven Deadly Sins, apparently they were the strongest and cruelest chivalric order in the kingdom, formed by seven brutal criminals who carved symbols of seven beasts into their bodies who were acting under the direct orders of the King of Liones. However 10 years ago, they were accued of murdering the former Great Holy Knight Zaratras and were branded as traitors after plotting to overthrow the kingdom and disintegrated all the Holy Knights launched a general offensive against them. However even until now, they were still their wanted posters that were going through all Britannia... Could it be that they were actually alive?

Of course the idea of asking help to such criminals scared her, however even after they were framed as wanted criminals, her father always spoke of them with respect and fond rememberance... could it be that the rumors were actually false? Her elder sister Margaret also seemed to think the same, while her second older sister Veronica was believing into those rumors... knowing her if she knew what she was about to do here and now, she would have definitively stopped her.

_'But even so... wait, how am I going to find them in first place?! It's not like I would successfully find them just by wandering around and hiding! Isn't there a way to locate them somehow? But it's not like I could do that alone in first place...'_

"Waah?!" She yelped in surprise as she suddenly lost her footing and started to fall foward... and before she realized it, Elizabeth tripped and fell face forward, her body rolling a few times against the ground before finally stopping with her face against the ground.

"It hurt...!" She slowly raised up from laying position to a sitting one and rubbing her red and bruised nose with her hand as she groaned in pain. She then suddenly rememebred her situation and covered her mouth with both hands as she silently looked around her, nobody just heard her, right...?

After waiting one minute, and two, she didn't heard any sound approaching her, she sighed in relief and stood up, wincing a bit. Mud and dirt were staining her dress and her knees and elbows were starting to sting with pain from the sudden shock. And then she realized that she was sweating and panting. Now that she looked around her, she realized that she was no longer in a place she could recognize. She could hardly see anything in this darkness but did she just missed a step when descending the stairs... wait, stairs?

The pathway she was supposed to take, did it lead downward towards stairs again...?

**...**

_'Don't tell me... I got myself lost...?'_ Elizabeth thought so incredulously as she sweatdropped, seriously depressed at the display of her usual clumsiness that didn't changed even faced at the seriousness of the situation. Did she ended up getting herself into some kind of unknown place? And compared to earlier, she could harldy see any light... and also she could hear the sound of some footsteps upward... wait, upward? Could it be she actually ended up in underground? But it didn't seemed like the dungeon of the castle, to the view, touch and feeling it seemed like a place she has never seen before.

Now that she find herself here, Elizabeth is reminded of a rumor and urban legend she often heard in her childhood. One that her sister Veronica also heard and warned her about at her turn.

_"You know what Ellie? I've heard that in the underground of the castle, there was a witch that lived in a maze down here! Apparently she would grant infinite knowledge to the one who manage to reach her and success her trial. But if you were to fail then she would eat you up!"_

It was like those scary stories that one who tell during bedtime, she remembers that the young her got scared of it and was scared to sleep alone for quite a while since then. But if those stories were actually true then... even if it's risky and something bad may happen to her if she were to fail, that witch may be able to tell her the locations of the Sins if she were to success! Besides she couldn't do anything else than that for now.

_'However now the problem is how to find that witch...' _Elizabeth start to wonder as she put her hand on the wall, wanting to use it as a support to push herself up, and...

***Click***

"..." She felt her hand sinken deeper on the part of the wall she just pushed, before she could utter any words, the ground where she was stepping one split itself into two different part, leaving a large hole under her. Elizabeth stayed on the 'invisible' ground with her feets, and...!

"KYAAAAAAAAHHH!" She fell in it at high speed.

* * *

"Yes, I know."

**...**

"Even if you don't tell me, I would have known."

**...**

"Me? It's the usual. Nothing changed over here."

**...**

"Who are you calling a workaholic? I don't want to hear it from you who is so lazy, so what if I didn't slept at all? As long as I can get one step closer to the success."

**...**

"Like I said, what's important isn't about me but about them... Wait a second."

**...**

"It seems that I have an unexpected visitor... Perhaps could it be...? No, I will go check it neverless."

**...**

"In normal times, none of the people whom I didn't granted the access would be able to reach here though..."

**...**

"What? If it is an 'intruder' then I will just chase him or her out, but if it is a 'guest', then..."

**...**

"And no, I won't kill them... depending on who it is of course."

**...**

"...What...?! Of all people, it's her?!"

* * *

"...Mm...?" Elizabeth's groaned in her sleep before tiredly opened her eyes before quickly closing her eyes in response of the blinding white light in front of her. After blinking a few times, she managed to adjust her view before realizing that it was the light on the ceiling. ...Wait, 'ceiling'?

_'Wasn't I in underground just a while ago?' _Elizabeth was confused as she tried to recall what happened in the midst of her blurry memories. But then her hand was touching something like a soft mattress which reminded her of the bed she had in her room in the castle. And then suddenly she was snapped awake out of her daze in panic.

"Don't tell me, I got brought back to the castle?!" Not even noticing that he accidentally voiced her thoughts, she immediately stood up on her shaking legs and ran forward, hoping to get a better view of her surroundings. Her shoes were making a crunching sound as she was walking on a dry ground, though she almost tripped on the hem of her dress in the middle of her actions but she managed to catch herself back before she committed another blunder and then approached the nearby stairs before looking over them, and...

"...Eeeek?!" She couldn't even hold back that frightened shriek that came out from her mouth. Well it wasn't a surprising reaction so nobody could blame her for that. It was an absurd spectacle, and if one were to express it into a single term, it would surely be... 'super-humongous-library-room'.

It seemed to be a world that was only composed entirely of "bookshelves and books" spread out infinitively. The overall space was shaped as a cylinder, but many layers of staircases and passages were built on the Wall's surfaces, with myriads upon myriads of bookshelves lined up on one side or both. The distance between the ground, no, the floor where she was currently standing on and the canopy on the other side of the long gallery that stretched out like a multi-story maze. Or rather now she looked carefully, she was close to the ceiling and she was looking down, she couldn't even see the ground from where she was.

Suddenly being overwelmed by the difference of height from the ground and where she was, Elizabeth felt her legs trembled as she slowly walked backward, avoiding the view that gave her a certain dizziness. She wasn't afraid of height, one may even say that she liked high places, after all she liked to go on the top of the towers of the castle and admiring the magnificient view it gave on the integrity of Liones from here. But that, was a totally different case. Not only she was taken by surprise, having just woke up and wasn't expecting such a scenery at all. This place was probably as tall as one tower of her castle in terms of height and space! She couldn't even begin to estimate the total number of boooks stowed away in the shelves!

After separating herself in a safe distance where she could no longer see the view below, Elizabeth's knees gave away and she fell on her butt, shaking in fear. If, just what if, she didn't managed to get a hold of herself and kept trembling without moving over there, and that her usual clumsiness were to strike again, and that she would have tripped over the stairs... wouldn't that be instant death?

_'W-well at least, I'm not back in the castle, that's for sure!'_ Trying to reassure herself from a possible near-death experience, Elizabeth managed to calm herself down by taking a few deep breaths. She would have definitively recognized such an impressive place if it was a part of the castle, so there should be no worry about Holy Knights coming here, right...?

"However this place... could it be the Witch's Maze...?" This place indeed seemed to be out of reality. However it was definitively not a dream. If it's truly what she thinks it is, then she should be start going to search for the witch. By passing by, she noticed that the bed she thought to be laying on earlier was actually a sofa.

She doesn't think she would have the confidence or courage to come down after seeing that mountain of stairs, maybe she would take a look around and see what she can do from here...? Making her mind up, she started to take a look around, in contrast of the many bookshelves below, it seemed that there wasn't much of it here on the ceiling. There was a white round table with a few books placed on it, most of them seemed to be story books for children to read but yet none of them seemed to be stories she knew of. And on the chair nearby, there was...

"...Wow..." Elizabeth couldn't help but let out a sigh of amazement.

On this chair was sitting a beautiful life-sized doll. Long flowing platinum blonde hair that was almost reaching the floor and reflected the light, petite height and thin limbs, smooth-looking white skin that seemed to have never felt the sun, and a victorian-style dress using a more dark colors than lighter ones with frills, lace and ribbons along with a matching set headband accessory on her hair. It was a bit unfortunate that she couldn't see her eyes under her bangs though... Being a princess, Elizabeth has received a lot and all kind of dolls during her childhoods. All of them were extremely cute, but they just couldn't compares to the work of art that was in front of her, that seemed to be carefully crafted by a master, probably a gift of someone of extremely high-standing.

It was then that she noticed that on the lap of the doll, there was an opened book which didn't seemed to be one of the children storybook she just saw earlier, it seemed to be of a language Elizabeth couldn't read despite the good quality of education she received as a princess.

_'Did someone put it on the doll's lap?'_ Chuckling to herself at the slight childish texture (because she remembered about how she did the same with her own dolls as a child), Elizabeth intented to close the book, take it away from the doll and put it on the table. However when she extended her hand...

***Fwshh...***

"...Eh?" Right in front of her, the doll just moved her hand and turned the page of the book on her lap with her fingers.

Elizabeth froze, unable to move, as the doll slowly raised the face that was casted down earlier and looked at her right into the eyes. Heterochromia eyes, one was emerald green, the other was sapphire blue, creating an opposition in her perfect symmetrical features, both were shining with the vitality of a living being, and certainly not the reflected light from a glass ball.

And as the 'doll' opened her small mouth, Elizabeth gulped down her saliva, and...

"For someone who was unconscious not even a few minutes ago, you are sure making a lot of noise, aren't you?"

...Those were the first words exchanged between the Third Princess of Liones and the Guardian of the Great Library Room.

* * *

"So... If I understand well, you aren't a witch?"

"To begin with it, there was no witch here. Just me in this Great Library Room, and I never ate anyone who dare to pass either, just sending them away if they are uninvited guests."

"But the story about how a witch lives in an underground maze, and that if you success her trial she will give you infinite knowledge..."

"Though this place is worthy to be called a 'maze' and is indeed under ground, with all the records, or books present here contains most of the informations about the world history since Britannia's creatio, unfortunately, it won't grant you any knowledge of the future. Besides, I hardly doubt that any human would have a lifespan long enough to read all of them."

"So, in truth..."

"Those are just urban stories or rumors based on mostly wrong assumptions. Sorry but it seems that you wasted your time."

"...!" Elizabeth just lowered her head in disappointment, so all that trip was for nothing? Just a wasted time?

The 'not-a-witch' doll-like person just stared at Elizabeth with her gem-like eyes before sighing silently as she spoke those following words: "...However, I have been gathering some informations about outside... if you wish to talk about of your circumstances, I don't mind listening."

"...!" ...This person... was she trying to be considerate? There was no telling if she would help her or not, but even so Elizabeth felt grateful that someone was willing to lend her an ear despite that, she would be grateful of it to share what she currently feels. She had hardly been able to do so with everything that happened. And so, Elizabeth told her everything.

"And for the Kingdom's sake, you are going on a journey..."

"Yes, however even now there is not a single information about the Sins..."

"...?! Wait a second!"

"Y-yes?!" Being surprised by the sudden change of the attitude of the person in front of her, Elizabeth couldn't help but flinch slightly on her chair. Especially when she felt the not-witch's shocked gaze glaring a hole into her.

"So... you are saying that not even one of the Seven Deadly Sins came back...?"

"W-well, it's not like they could... they were branded as traitors by the kingdom after all..." And personally Elizabeth didn't even knew if she could still believe in the legend of their existences. After all the rumor about the witch was false, so what if the one about the Seven Deadly Sins was unreal too...?

"..._So he never came back to you not even once, even after all this time? During those 10 long years?_" However the 'doll''s mumbles brought Elizabeth back to her senses.

"Eh? What are you," Of what was she talking about?

"That coward! Even though he promised, he dares to still run away?!"

"EEEHHH?!" For some reason she can't understand, the doll-like girl got angry and lost her calm and previously dignified composure.

She then angrily sat back on her seat before looking at Elizabeth, "Say... would you..."

"...Yes?" Elizabeth tilted her head on the side in confusion but after a moment of hesitation, the not-witch girl just shook her head and looked away. "No, nevermind, please forget about it."

"I... see?"

"However..."

"Yes?"

"...If you want to search for them, I may lend a helping hand."

"Eh? N-no, it's alright! I cannot impose you my presence any longer, you have already helped me more than enough by treating my wounds and lending me a place to rest, if I were to ask for more, it would be too selfish of me!"

"That is not a proposition but a trial."

Elizabeth blinked in confusion but then her expression changed upon looking at the serious look of the other one. "W-what do you mean by this...?"

The other one just closed her eyes and spoke solmenly, "Just as you said earlier, the witch of the rumor give infinite knowledge to the one who success her trial, my knowledge isn't infinite but I at least know the current locations of some Sins thanks to the informations I have gathered around here. And I am willing to sharing them with you..."

Elizabeth's expression brightened at those words, so the Seven Deadly Sins truly existed after all...!

"However I want you to find the first one yourself."

"Eh...?" At those next following words, Elizabeth's expression fell.

"This shall be my trial to you, there is no need for you to worry, I will personally make sure that nobody would get into your way. In return, what I want to ask is for you to keep on walking until you've found the right person."

"B-but, how would I be able to know where...?"

"Just trust your instinct, no matter where you go, if he doesn't come to you, you would be able to go to him."

"...?"

"Unreasonable, isn't it? However those are my conditions to you, what I am testing here isn't your intelligence or stamina, but the strength of your will. If this is just some half-baked thing then I will send you back to your room in the castle immediately." There was not a single trace of joke inside her gaze, she meant every word she said.

Indeed it was unreasonable, and Elizabeth herself wasn't sure if she should trust her words or not, there was no evidence if she was truly saying the truth, however...

"I understand, I will do it!" Elizabeth declared so with determination and confidence. She was already aware that it would be hard for her to search for them, that it would be hard and there would be any easier shortcuts, but even so she already made her mind up. If she couldn't do it, who else would do it in her place?! It was her duty as a member of Liones' royalty, and also she wanted to save her father and people!

For one second, she thought that the not-witch girl seemed to be relieved, but it disappeared so quickly that she thought that she was imagining things.

"Fine, then I will prepare things for you to travel safely, be sure to take as much rest you can today, because you are going to depart tomorrow morning at dawn."

"But, what if I get found? Wouldn't you get in danger too?" Even now she was worrying about someone else instead of her own situation.

"Don't worry, nobody who wasn't invited by me to come in can intrude this place, sleep with peace in mind. Though the sofa is the only thing I can lend to you." She easily waved off the princess' worries. "However, what about you?"

"I will be fine without it. Just go already."

"Y-yes, thank you very much..." Elizabeth stood up hesitantly from the chair and bowed, before walking towards the sofa and laying on it, but right before she closed her eyes there was a question still left unasked that was in her mind.

"Miss Not-Witch... it's seems that I have completely forgot ask about it but... what is your name...?"

After some hesitation, the questioned one answered: "...Trista."

"I... see... Thank you very much... Trista...-san..." And with that Elizabeth fell asleep right away. It seemed she was truly pushing herself to exhaustion. But there was no helping about it, even though it was cruel to push a sheltered princess through all of this, it would be needed in the future, to meet up with him once again.

The sheet covering the table was used to cover the sleeping princess' body. And the doll-like girl looked at her sleeping form for a while before walking away as she looked towards the ceiling. It was unknown what she can see through this stained glass upward, but only she can know about it.

"It seems that once again_ Elizabeth_ is heading towards you... I hope that you will be better prepared this time, **Meliodas**." If the princess was awake, she would wonder why the doll-like girl would know her name while she never said it even once. However to who she was even talking about while there were nobody else here, would still be a mystery for all besides the one who spoke.

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**A/N.: I decided to keep some Japanese suffixes around, I hope I didn't made Elizabeth too OOC. And a special thanks for _merendinoemiliano_ and ****_fantasy.92_ (my long time friend) to have reviewed the first chapter already! I also wish to thanks all the readers for reading this fanfic and who favorized and followed it! I hope that you liked this chapter, and please don't forget to review (^^)**


	3. Introduction Arc - II

**A/N.: Hello everyone! I'm so much very glad (I dont even know if those words should even used together XD) that I got much more reviews that I have ever expected~! Thank you very much, truly! Some of my grades became better in school, so I'm also a bit glad right now! I hope that this chapter would please you too, and please don't forget to review (^^)**

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When the next morning arrived, Elizabeth was getting herself ready on one of the lower floors. Finally it was the time for her to depart. In order to look for one of the Seven Deadly Sins. And during this time...

"..." Trista was on the top floor, looking towards the unseen sky deep in thought. For the first time in quite a while, she was going to set a foot in the outside world.

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**INTRODUCTION ARC - II : _The First of the Seven Deadly Sins_**

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"Hah... haah... haaah..." A few days later, Elizabeth panted heavily as she walked with difficulty into the heavy dark rusty armor she was wearing on the moutain. Even though she managed to escape the kingdom incognito thanks to this disguise, what's the point if she can't even hide her own voice from coming out of exhaustion? She knew that it was hard and she had prepared herself mentally for that but to think that hard! It was as if she was walking with the weights covering all her body like she had seen Griamore do it often during his training.

It felt hot, dizzy and suffocating with the helmet on and her vision was so narrowed and limited that she could hardly see anything, especially since the interior of the helmet made it so dark to see. Now that she actually tried the whole armor on, she couldn't understand how the Holy Knights managed to deal with this on daily basis! Her whole body felt so heavy being covered by that metal protection that she could hardly take anything other than a slow and small step forward, but...

_'Still... I must walk, until I manage to find one of the Seven Deadly Sins...'_ Mentally scolding herself for complaining, Elizabeth tried to gather all her strength and pushed her feets forward. She has no right to complain about her difficulties while her people and kingdom were having it far worst! Which is why in order to put an end to their suffering, she needed to find the Seven Deadly Sins as quickly as possible! It was fine if she were to miss some sleep or meal time for that sake!

Though she doesn't know until when she has to continue to walk, and the thought of walking without stopping forever scared her, so is the possibility of having done all this for nothing and never successing in her searchs, but... for some reason, she felt like she could believe what the witch, no, what Trista told her. She at least got the confirmation that the Seven Deadly Sins truly existed... so if she keep on walking then maybe at a moment for sure...!

Elizabeth was so absorbed into her thoughts to keep herself motivated and away from giving up that she didn't even noticed when she opened the door of a certain place and entered into a certain tavern, before hearing some certain gasps around her. She couldn't even see properly but there was one thing that was keep going in her mind. Just like Trista said, nobody came after her, nobody tried to stop her or to get in her way, so in order to not waste that chance she must keep on striving...

_Keep on walking, don't stop, don't rest, just keep on walking..._

She managed to raise her hands sluggishly and said out the words of the ones she was looking for. **"The... Seven... Deadly... Sins..." **For some reason, was it because she was wearing this armor? She felt like that she couldn't even recognize her own voice so much it sounded muffled and deeper.

Then she could feel a lot of persons screaming and running past across her at high-speed. What happened, she wondered? In normal times she may realize that her current appearance was quite frightening to normal people but her mind was os tired and hazy that the thought didn't even crossed her mind. She couldn't even react to it as she stumbled, having finally reached the ultimate limit of her endurance, was currently wobbling, unable to maintain an acceptable balance.

"Who're you?" Just before her fall, she had the impression to hear a nostalgic voice and saw a slight flash of golden color before her mind and body completely shut off and that her consciousness fall completely in darkness. Just before she became completely unconscious, she thought that she misheard someone telling her 'Congratulations'.

* * *

"It's... a girl...?" Hawk muttered in shock after seeing the uncovered face of the mysterious knight who just arrived. For some reason, all the customers mistook her as a Holy Knight and they ran away in fear of some kind of possible punishment or tyranny that may befall on them. However it turned out to be just a young woman in it with some of her silver bangs hiding her right eye.

Meliodas couldn't blame his pig friend to be shocked upon finding that mysterious knight intruder's identity, even _he_ didn't expected it. After all, since he couldn't go to Liones anymore due to being framed as a criminal along with his comrades, he knew that the fate that cursed them would allow them to reunite soon with a way or another. However he couldn't know how it would happen beforehand.

There was still a part of him that was too shocked to comprehend the situation properly despite hiding it under an indifferent mask since Hawk had yet said anything about his reaction. Finally! After 10 years, no matter her circumstances for why she came here like that, he was finally able to be with her again. Even now he had to bite the inside of his cheek in order to hide the wide smile that was about to spread out on his face.

However there was also another thing that he didn't predicted...

"As you said it seems that you truly succeeded, even though you fainted before witnessing the result of your efforts. To say the truth, I was somewhat expecting you to give up on the middle of it but it seems that I had understimated you... Sorry, you deserve my apologies and praises for your efforts. So, congratulations." A hooded figure said so, they were barely taller than him walked near the unconscious young woman cladded in armor, then they took off their hood and...

Long strand of platinum blonde hair fell on the shoulders, heterochromia eyes were staring back at him, a girl with doll-like features. Along with a surprisingly deep-sounding mature androgynous voice that didn't suited her girlish appearance. Just like Elizabeth, it was a face that he didn't saw for a long time of 10 years... and one that he certainly didn't expected here.

"Triss...?" Unconsciouly, he muttered the nickname he gave to her which she accepted with a begrudging expression after coughing awkwardly in her fist. "Yes it's me, it's been indeed a while, Meliodas."

"Wait, Meliodas, are they your acquaintances?" Hawk besides him asked as he gave the blond a curions look, however he had been flawlessly ignored.

Then Meliodas gave his usual sunny grin, as if it was to mask the shock he just had earlier, "Oh! If it isn't Triss! I never thought to see you here of all places, did the usual shut-in that you are finally decided to come out of her cave?"

"It isn't a cave but a library, and even I go out from time to time, especially if the situation calls for it." Trista answered without missing a beat as she side-glanced at the still unconscious Elizabeth, "I know that you want explanations, but first let's put her somewhere more comfortable to sleep than on the floor."

"Mm? Sure, but you better explain yourself, and her share too." Meliodas was about to approach Elizabeth in order to carry her upward but before that he was stopped by Trista's extended hand.

"What's wrong?"

"...Meliodas, that you are doing well and is alive are good things, however just before you carry her away." Trista trailed off and Meliodas repeated her words, "'Just before I carry her away' what?"

"Just before you carry her away, clench your teeths."

"..." At her words, Meliodas' smile fell.

**...**

"I can't believe that the first thing that you wanted to do after reuniting with me after 10 years was to punch me in the guts."

"And I can't believe that after 10 years of not seeing you, you didn't even let me do such a thing."

"Oh, come on! What did you expected? Normally people settle for a hug or a touching reunion, right?"

"As if you would hug anyone other than her."

"Well, I can't deny that fact."

"I can't understand if you two are getting along well or not!"

* * *

Elizabeth's consciousness was slowly coming back to awareness, but even if she wasn't completely awake, she could tell that she isn't in the armor anymore neither was she on the floor but on an actually soft mattress... wait, doesn't this feel awfully like a déjà-vu?

"_It's... a girl...!_"

"_You already said that earlier_."

"_Oh, shut up you!_"

"_Unnya!_"

"..._? What are you._.."

"_EEEEH?!_"

"_This sleeping face... This bodyline... This smell._.." Three voices, she could hear. One was high-pitched and female-like, another sounded familiar and androgynous while the last one was a male one. ...And was it her imagination or she could feel the owner of the voice moving around her?

Then suddenly she felt something grabbing her right breast. "_This firmness_..." And after a few squeezes...

"_I knew it. It IS a girl!_"

"_Can't you tell just by looking?!_"

"_Did you thought that she was a crossdresser...?_"

"_Is this where you're focused on?!_"

"_Of course not, taking advantage of a sleeping girl is no good_."

"_So that means that as long she's awake, it would be fine to do as I want?_"

"_Of course not, you swine!_"

"_If she has given her consent, then_..."

"_Why are you helping him more than you're helping me?! PUGO!_"

"_For now, just let her go_."

"_Ow, ow, ow! Don't pull on my ahoge, you're gonna pull it out!_"

"_If so then let your hand go of her chest_."

"_Never!_"

"_Hah... Are you a child?_"

Frowning, slightly because of the noise, Elizabeth opened her eyes before getting herself up in a sitting position and saw a scene that let her slightly feel at lost on how to react. Because in front of her, there was a childish-looking boy who seemed to be shorter than her with one of his hand grabbing her breast, there was also the familiar doll-like not-a-witch person who seemed to be pulling on one of the strand of hair of the boy's and behind them was a pig.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

During this moment of silence, the boy didn't stopped from squeezing her breast that was in his hand, now realizing what was happening, Elizabeth's face was covered in a blush all up to her ears as she didn't even knew what she should say in such a situation, "U-um..." Yes, it was the best she managed to.

But not caring about that, the boy (or was he really one?) just continued to squeeze her chest for a few more time before finally letting go and turned himself, satisfied on whatever he did. "No irregularity in your heartbeat!"

"Oh... Thank you... very much?"

"You fiend! Acting as if you didn't do anything!"

"If you wanted to check for her pulse, at least do at the neck or the wrist, the sound would be more accurate like this."

"And why the heck are you calmly giving adivces around for?!"

Elizabeth then blinked in surprise before leaning forward on the bed upon seeing Trista, "EH?! Miss Witch, ah no, I mean, Trista-san?! Why on earth are you here?!"

Trista however just raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth's reaction, "Why are you so surprised for? Didn't I told you that I'm was going to accompany you...?"

Elizabeth widened her eyes in shock at that, "Eh, did you?!" For some reason no matter how much she tried to search in her memories she couldn't remember such a moment.

"...Or maybe I didn't?" ...Which one is it...?

"Err... Why are you asking it back to me?"

"So I didn't, huh..." Trista closed her eyes and then shrugged with indifference, "But well, the result would be the same. Even if I were to walk together with you I wouldn't have helped you."

At that, Elizabeth bite back everything she wanted to say, indeed it was her trial. Wherever Trista came with her or not didn't made much differences since she wasn't going to help her any more than she already had.

"Wait, 'witch'...?" The boy looked at Trista in a confused manner while the latter just waved it off with her hand without even looking back at him, "Don't ask." However seeing the large amused grin on the boy's face, it seems that he wasn't going to give up on the matter.

Elizabeth chuckled before looking around her in confusion, finally realizing that she didn't even knew where she was, "Um... Where am I...? And... how did I get here?"

The boy suddenly opened the curtains of the room, letting the sunlight passing through the glass of the window and get a more clear view as he explained. "You came in shambling into my tavern and suddenly fainted."

"Tavern...?"

"The Boar Hat! It's my tavern."

"You are... the owner?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" The boy asked back but there wasn't any offense in his voice much to Elizabeth's relief over wherever she had been impolite or not.

For some reason she didn't understand, she felt like she shouldn't treat this person as a child which is why she was using formal speech when interacting with him. "N-not at all! But with that sheath on your back..." There was a scabbard being carried on his back, what's popping out of it was a large green dragon-shaped handle.

The boy(?) looked back at her while fixing the knot to hold the certains. "Oh, yeah!"

"...I thought that you must be a swordsman." Elizabeth elaborated her thoughts further.

***SHIIIIN!***

"Eek!" However when he suddenly pulled out the sword from the scabbard, Elizabeth yelped in surprise at the unexpected action, at the cringing metallic sound and also at what he may do with that. However when nothing happened she opened her eye hesitantly... and just widened her eyes in response at what she saw as she brought a hand at her mouth. "A broken... blade?"

''Show off.'' Trista muttered nearby but the tavern owner ignored her criticism.

The boy who was holding his 'sword' up high smiled mischeviously, "Hehe! Did I scared you? The hilt alone makes people think it's a whole sword. This is what keeps people from skipping the bill at my place! All sorts of people come to a bar... it's a tough job for an owner." So he said as he put back the broken blade back into the scabbard on his back without even looking.

The pig near him then said, "I feel more sorry for the patrons who get charged for the awful food you serve."

Upon hearing him, Elizabeth's expression brightened into admiration and amazement, her eyes shining with interest as she hoped off of the bed and immediately ran to hug the pink pig while patting his stomach, "Awww! A talking piggy! I once begged my father for one for my birthday!"

"The name's Hawk!" The pig, or rather Hawk, didn't seemed to dislike her touch as a small flush appeared on his already pink cheeks and his tails was waving happily (is he a dog?).

"What a curious birthday present request... and what a strange name for a pig." Trista commented nearby which made Hawk puffing angrily at her, "Huh?! What are you saying?! That it my name doesn't suit me!"

"This is perfectly what I meant. The proud predators would feel at shame for being dragged down by a poor prey like you."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?!"

Hawk was keep on getting irritated, and Trista was just keep on going with the indifference despite her sharp words. Seeing the two, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel worried as she tried to mediate. "P-please calm down! I think it to be a wonderful name!"

"You're such a nice person, miss!" Hawk cuddled closer to Elizabeth.

The boy then looked at her with a smile before asking to her, "Then? Did he got you a pig?"

"..." However upon being reminded of her father, Elizabeth's smile fell as she looked away in silence with slight sadness present on her face.

"Well it isn't surprising. Talking pigs don't rain from the sky." Trista commented while Hawk huffed in pride, "Hehem! This show how much of a special being I am!"

"Indeed talking pigs are rare but I think that there are other beasts far greater than you outside of here."

"Hmph! There is no greater than this Hawk-sama here!"

"...At least your ego is larger than your size, huh?"

"Hoh! So even you recognized my greatness, huh?"

"I wasn't praising you." Trista's flat answer didn't reached Hawk's ears.

However their small interaction made Elizabeth smiled a bit. Seeing that, the boy smiled at his turn as he spoke, "I know! You must be hungry. If you want, you can have a bite."

"What?!" Hawk flinched as his pin skin turned blue out of fear, his ears rising up upward as he started to tremble.

"Of Pork-chan?" Elizabeth asked in confusion while Hawk reacted at her way of calling him, "It's not 'Pork'! It's 'Hawk'!"

"I see. I thought that he was a pet, but to think that he was just a still unused ingredient." Trista nodded in understanding.

The boy grinned, "Sorry, but no. I meant some bar food. Heh, heh..."

Hawk gritted his teeths as he glared at them, "You asshole... Don't say things that they'll misinterprets! And I'm not some kind of ingredient!"

* * *

Elizabeth looked around the wall of the tavern's dining room where the wanted posters of the Seven Deadly Sins were on, with a frowning and slight worried expression on her face.

"The food's ready!" She heard the voice of the tavern owner before quickly go to him and sit down as on a chair as he instructed her to.

On the table of the bar counter, there was a plate of freshly-made steak covered with a brown sauce and with some fresh vegetable as side dishes and the tablewares lining up on the side of the plate. It truly looked delicious and Elizabeth felt her mouth water in anticipation, it's been quite a while since she had proper food.

"Not only you take care of me... but now you're also feeding me. What can I possibly do to repay you?" She truly felt grateful that he was kind enough to do all this for a stranger like herself. Even though she accidentally made all his customers run away, even though he should be extremely busy as a tavern owner.

"Take a bite of his cooking before saying anything." Hawk said as he leaned his upper body on the seat near hers.

"Don't worry about that, eat up!"

"Thank you very much for the meal." Elizabeth cut a piece of steak small enough to enter in her mouth, but at the moment she bite into the meat, she felt herself make a sound that was unfit for a princess as she started to tremble with the fork still inside her mouth, and did her best to not throw up the food and chewed it with difficulty before finally managingto swallow it down.

"Well? It taste awful, right?" The small tavern owner leaned his elbow on the counter with a anticipating grin on his face.

Did he did that even though he already knew? Elizabeth had no other answer than a muffled, "Um, yes..."

""I knew it."" Both the man and pig said in unison though the man had a mischevious grin, the pig showed more pity and compassion towards her, was he also a fellow victim? But...

"...!" Before she knew it, tears started to fall from her eyes as warmth started to spread through her heart. She didn't knew why but a single bite of this... even though it tasted so bad, still...

"To the point of crying?!" Hawk cried out, shocked. It seems that he misunderstood the reason for why she was crying.

Elizabeth felt herself smiling a bit, "But... it's so very... delicious..." It felt as if she was just saved by that flavor. She didn't raised her eyes so she didn't knew how she must have looked to his eyes, for some reason he was strangely silent.

But after she calmed down a little, he called out to her. "Hey. So what were you doing in that suit of armor?"

Elizabeth wiped her tears away with the back of her hand as she spoke: "I'm looking for... the Seven Deadly Sins..." Suddenly the tavern owner seemed like he wanted to say something but...

"Why are you people being so noisy for..." Trista came down from the stairs at this moment before looking at them and froze upon seeing Elizabeth's tears. She then looked from Elizabeth, then to Meliodas, then to Elizabeth again, and back to Meliodas once more. She then said the first few assumptions that came to her mind at the moment: "...Bullying? Harrassment?"

"Eh...?" Elizabeth blinked once, then twice. After she realized what Trista meant before quickly standing up and shake her hands in denial, "N-no, it's wrong! He wasn't bullying, I was the one who cried on my own!"

"...Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Oi, oi, oi. It's rude to accuse people of things they didn't do."

"Well you are the type of person who's making girls cry often, so I don't know if I can believe you for sure..."

_'I wonder if Trista-san and Mr. Tavern Owner are acquainted with each other?'_ Elizabeth wondered so in her mind as she watched the two's interactions. For some reason, those two seemed to be really close to each other. But then Elizabeth remembered something important as she suddenly soute out: "THAT'S RIGHT, THE TRIAL!" She was even surprised by her own shout herself, not expecting it to be that loud as she quickly covered her mouth with both her hands. Besides everybody was staring at her in shock, it was so embarrassing!

"Wait, 'trial'...?" The tavern owner looked at Trista while frowning slightly while Trista just sighed, "About that, I'll explain it later on."

"You better do."

"But not now, she need rest, and so do I."

"Running away when you feel like it..."

"Escaping is also a perfect strategy. Besides I'm not running anywhere, just pushing our due a little more later in the time."

"Isn't that basically the same thing?"

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!"

"I'm not playing that game with you."

"Tch, you're no fun."

_'Oh... So they must know each other really well... Wait, get a hold of yourself Elizabeth, this isn't the time to think about that!'_ Elizabeth shook her head to chase those thoughts away from her mind as she asked to Trista in panic, "Trista-san, what happened to the trial?! I fell unconscious here... could it be that I've failed?" Elizabeth managed to get those words out of her mouth but she was actually quite fearful on the result. She had yet found a Sin that she already stopped in the middle of her trial, if she were to say that she would leave immediately would it be considered as 'safe'...? Or will it be considerated as a failure and she would be forced back to Liones?

"Hm? No, you succeeded though."

"...Eh?" Hearing Trista's nonchalant answer made Elizabeth feel confused. "U-um, if you would allow me to be impolite, what do you mean by that?"

"You aren't impolite at all so calm down, I'm truly meaning what I said, that you found the first Sin that you were searching for in your journey."

"Eh?" And while Elizabeth was still overwhelmed by the situation...

"I'm a bit tired to do the explanations, so I'm leaving her care to you, Leader of the Seven Deadly Sins." Trista waved her hand before starting to climb up the stairs she just descended just a while ago.

The tavern owner just pointed at her as he corrected her, "It's not 'leader' but 'Captain'!"

"...Eh?"

"Yes, yes."

"And just one yes is enough!"

"Yeeeeeessss..."

"And it doesn't need to be that long either!"

"Yes." And with that Trista exited the scene.

_'As expected they are getting along so well... no wait,'_

"S-so, if I understand well Mr. Tavern Owner..."

"Yup, what is it?"

"Could you perhaps be... the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins...?" She asked hesitantly, there was just no way... right? After all if you were to compare him and the wanted posters, then...

"That's right!" He pointed his thumb at himself and had a wide grin (he smile a lot, she noticed) on his face, "I'm their Captain, Meliodas!"

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" And this is how, the sound of Elizabeth's shock reasoned through the Boar Hat. Oh, but at least she found the first one of the Seven Deadly Sins, so it should be all right, right? So it's fine to get shocked once a while, right? Everything is well that end well... as if it is. (It felt as if Gowther was here and speaking.)

* * *

**A/N.: The reason of why I skipped the whole Rust Knight part is because of Trista's promise to Elizabeth, how how she would mysteriously "keep anyone from getting in her way until she found the first Sin." I'm planning for Twigo and his following knights to make an appearance in the next chapter, so please forgive me for changing the plot a bit. I'm sorry, it seems that I have forgotten to put a review-answering corner in the previous chapter, so here it is!**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 1: **_"I love it!"

_**My answer:**_ Thank you as always for your support, my friend!

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 1: **_"Interesting"

_**A.:**_ I'm glad that you liked it, please continue to enjoy the rest of the story!

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 2:**_ "I love it! It's perfect! By the way who was Trista talking with ? Herself or Merlin ? Update when you can!"

_**A.:**_ That, is a secret until the good moment come~

**_\- believergirl62's review at chapter 2:_** "I really like this story so far. I like how it feels so mysterious right at the start, and I can't wait to see how you continue it. I'm also really excited to find out just how Trista knows so much about Meliodas and Elizabeth and they're curse, and about how she's going to help free them! Please Update again soon!"

_**A.:**_ I'm glad that it pleased you! I hope that you will like the continuation of it too!

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 2:**_ "Not bad at all, the classic mix of mistique and comedy Seven deadly sins possess."

_**A.:**_ I tried my best to make it like that, I'm happy that I managed to work it out right!

**_\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 2:_** "pffft hahahaha, several things here make me laughing like how Elizabeth startled (mistaking her as doll) and the doll-like witch, Trista, lost her composure. I guess I understand now and indeed, I agree with you when you said that the OC is different in your PM. I'll wait for your next chapter~"

_**A.:**_ Thank you! I hope that you will come to like Trista more through the story!

**By the way, the "A." means "my answer" as written above.**

**I have based my OC, her appearance, personality and library on the one of Victorique de Blois in the anime/manga Gosick which I took a great liking too! The library was also inspired from the Cardinal's library in SAO Alicization.**


	4. Introduction Arc - III

**A/N.: Hello everyone! i just finished an hard week filled with homeworks and presentation, before I knew it updating my fanfics became a way to relax for me! Thank you very much for everyone that reviewed and followed my story, I hope that this new chapter would please you too! And also, sorry about the spelling errors, since the auto-corrector that I use is in a different language so it often replace the word on its own!**

**And also, I have removed the part about the plushie in the previous chapter due to my own reasons for the future chapters and also because I had an hard time to choose which animal it would be (hesitating between a bear, dragon or dinosaur...)! It's a bit embarrassing... but later on the plushie story would come back.**

**By the way, the author of the Nanatsu fanfic named "The White Enchantress" named _Maya Yoan _has just published the first part of our crossover chapter! Please feel free to take a look, it's a fanfic that I would like to recommend! She has updated the point of view of her OC, I would also publish mine about Trista's POV on a later date because of spoiler issues, please forgive me for that!**

* * *

**INTRODUCTION ARC - III : _The Sword of the Holy Knight_**

* * *

"So now you better explain yourself Triss!"

"...Is that the reason about why you came to bother me in such a early morning?" Trista was looking at Meliodas with half-lidded eyes after the latter had suddenly barged into the attic of his tavern.

There were two bedrooms in the building, the one in the second floor belonged to Meliodas while the one on the first floor was given to Elizabeth, so in the end only the attic of the tavern was left to Trista. Even though Elizabeth had insisted that it was fine for her to go in the attic instead or to even share a room, Trista refused.

Meliodas huffed slightly, "Hmph! Of course! Even though you told me that you would confess up everything yesterday, you made me wait until today!"

"Am I a criminal in the middle of interrogation to you?" She deadpanned.

"Of course not! Since the criminal is me!" Even though it wasn't a praise or anything, Meliodas still exclaimed so with a large grin on his face before placing a hand on his chest as if he was puffing it out in pride.

"Hoh... So you were aware about it," Trista clapped her hands dully in (fake) praise before raising an eyebrow, "Or rather is that something to be happy about?"

"I know where this situation is going towards but don't you dare to think that it would work on me!"

"...Tch."

"Ah, you just clicked your tongue, didn't you?!"

"...I wasn't."

"You definitively were."

"Isn't that great, that you aren't blind or having problems with your eye-sight?" Yes, all those words were coming out in such a fluid manner despite them sounding more like insults. She probably mean to try and sound happy however the needed emotions weren't even in her voice.

Meliodas then frowned slightly before sighing, "Hm... The fact that you are using polite speech to say such rude words is still unchanged after all those years, huh? It's surprising that Bartra never cut off your head for that."

Trista scoffed at that, "As if that way-too-nice king would do something like this just because of some rudeness."

Meliodas then waved his finger in front of her with a disapproving attitude, "Oi, oi, oi! It's no good to say such things about others like that!"

Trista just stared back at him with a flat gaze. "But aren't you thinking the same?"

"Ahaha! So you've seen through me, huh?" Meliodas immediately broke into a grin as he placed his hands behind his head.

Seeing this, it was now Trista who sighed before she slightly scratched her head and then with another sigh, "So now you want explanations, right?"

"Hoho? Finally giving up, aren't you?"

"Or rather you probably won't even let me sleep unless I've told you what you want, right?"

"Hm?" It was then that Meliodas noticed. All the books present in the attic that should be on the bookshelves were now on the floor near Trista's sitting form, and in her hands too was a still opened book. Then a yawn came from her. With all those hints, Meliodas concluded that...

"Triss... could it be that you didn't slept at all?" Of course he could be wrong and all, but...

"Of course not, there are only two beds in this place, one for you and her. Both of you are exhausted like zombies ready to pass out at any minute." And with a 'clap!' sound she closed the books she was reading.

Meliodas then rubbed the back of his head as if he was slightly troubled by her response, "But still..."

"Well at least I had a way to pass time." She said as she glanced towards all the books closed and placed near her.

Meliodas followed the direction where she was looking for an instant before turning back to her, "Every time I find you, you were always reading books. Do you like reading that much?" He asked her something he thought was normal, so when she looked at him in what that seemed to be a confused expression.

"...What with that face."

"No, I was surprised. Indeed I am reading a lot of books but I never once said that I liked to read."

"Eh? What with that? Then why are you always reading for?"

"For research purposes of course." And she was looking at him as if it was the most evident thing of the world.

"No, no, no. How was I supposed to know that." Meliodas deadpanned with slightly narrowed eyes, "Besides of what kind of research is it even about?"

"Hm... It's not something that you need to know, but if you want still to know more, how about asking Merlin the next time you see her..."

"Okay, I'm fine, no thanks." ...An immediate answer as if it was said by reflexe, though said in a calm manner it also sounded very hasty. Everyone knew that anything related to the word 'research' and 'Merlin' were never a good fit together.

"...So you are backing off when it come to that, huh?" As if she just discovered something crucially important, Trista crossed her arms before nodding to herself and then placed the book on her lap onto the tower of books at her right side. "I spend the entire night reading those books but it seems that there are no other meaning besides some novel plots. Truly a disappointment, since they are books that you kept I expected something more hopeful."

"Well sorry that they didn't pleased you then, or rather of what were you even hopeful of?"

"Maybe a new kind of knowledge that I wasn't aware about compared to some romance stories I can't even understand."

"Is that so? It sounds far more easy to understand to me compared to those hard science book I've seen you reading once before."

"Everything depends on the logic in it. Besides, were you even one who would read such things? It seems utterly unifitting to me." Trista asked with a small frown as she took out a book from the pile and showed him the title of it: 'A Waltz under the Moonlight. Indeed it didn't seems like what the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins would read... unless it is one of his hidden hobby of course, but there was no way such a thing was possible. So why...?

"Say... for whose sake did you buy those books for? ...Don't tell me, for that role-playing lover teammate of yours...?"

"Ahaha! You mean Gowther? No way, even though he may likes those kind of things, I wouldn't go as far as doing that."

"Then for who..." Trista's voice trailed off as her eyes widened slightly as if she had just been strucked by some lightening of realization. Meliodas seemed to be unaware of the reason of her reaction as he just tilted his head on the side.

Slowly Trista lowered her gaze from his (refusing to meet his gaze) and put the book down, her mind immersed in her own thoughts with Meliodas being confused over her silence nearby, then. "...Understood, let's talk."

"Hm? What with you? Being so obedient all of the sudden."

"What? You were keep on asking on hearing my side of the story, and now I'm finally accepting to reveal it to you. Shouldn't you be happy about it?"

"Yeah, yeah, thank you very much. But seriously what's wrong?" Did she truly had a change of mood, or was she trying to actually be considerated? Meliodas didn't knew, though handling women wasn't something he was bad at, for some reason he couldn't get at all what was going through Trista's head.

"I just changed my mind, that's all. But let me tell you beforehand, you won't like what you will hear."

"Oh, come on it can't be that bad." Meliodas grinned at Trista's words, the poor him of that time didn't even knew how wrong he would be...

* * *

"I can't believe you made Elizabeth do something like this!"

"And this is exactly why I told you that you wouldn't like it..." As expected he got angry at her. This is exactly why she didn't wanted to say anything to begin with it, not that she was scared of his anger being directed towards her, just because it was annoying to deal with it.

"Shouldn't you know that I won't help someone who's weak-willed?"

"But still, you are overdoing it! Elizabeth collapsed right after she arrived here!" Meliodas repeated when he patted the table of the counter over and again in an annoyed manner as he glared at Trista.

"Didn't I told you that you were spoiling her too much?"

"And you are way too harsh!"

"Personally, I believe that I am far more gentle on her compared to how I treat others."

"How about you try to review your definition of 'gentle'?!"

"Even though you're usually so calm, why are you being so agited right now...?" Trista sighed against the chair she was sitting on and leaning against.

_'Seriously, I don't have the energy to deal with that...' _It seems that all of his possible concerns about her health that he showed earlier disappeared all at once once he hear at her appearent horrible treatment towards the silver-haired princess... Well since the past, he was always overprotective of her. It's great and all but if he spoils her too much then she would never be able to grow by herself. ...Or rather, she was seriously way too tired for this, isn't this noticeable by her relatively short answers? What, it isn't? How weird...

"Pugo! Pugo! What with you guys?! Being so noisy so early in the morning."

"You arrived at the best time ever, Piglet. Please switch with me." Trista descended from her seat and was about to walk the stairs upward.

"Huh? What're you talking about? Wait, wait, where are you even going?!"

"Wait, Triss! We aren't done yet!" Unpleased, Meliodas wanted to catch Trista back but before he could...

"Um... Meliodas-sama...?"

_'Thankfully another savior arrived here right in time.'_ Trista thought with eyes closed, there was no need to open her eyes in order to guess who it is. Hearing the person come down from the stairs, she decided to walk up on the stiars in contrast and directed herself towards the room where Elizabeth slept. It had actually been a whole week since she last slept, during the time when she traveled with Elizabeth along ith her preventing that rumors of a certain 'Rust Knight' travels through Britannia, but also prior to her encounter with her when she was still doing many sleepless nights back into her library because of her 'work'. As expected, even she would fall exhausted after all that...

Knowing Elizabeth's generous personality, she surely wouldn't mind if she were to borrow the bed she just slept in. About the morning greetings... it would be fine to say them after she woke up, and since Meliodas said none to her, there is no need to give him greetings. Maybe she would say some to the pig who just allowed her to escape even if it was done unconsciously. Besides since he is so overprotective of her, there is no doubt that Meliodas would flawlessly protect Elizabeth wherever she goes, so no need to worry about anything related to that.

_'Tired...'_ So was the last thought Trista had before her consciousness shut down and everything else turned black.

* * *

"M-Meliodas-sama...? Err... Is Trista-san alright?"

"Alright or not, she's just asleep. Seriously that girl... Tired or not, to think that she would fall asleep before she even managed to reach the bed..."

"Pugo, pugo! Seriously, just what on earth did she do in order to be that tired?"

Because Elizabeth was worried over Trista's sudden change in attitude, she has begged for Meliodas and Hawk to come with her and check on the doll-like girl's condition, only to find that same one lying alseep on the floor at one inch from the bed. The person herself, didn't seemed to mind sleeping on the cold and hard floor at all despite a warm, soft and comfortable bed being just one inch besides her. She already looked pale to begin with but when she was sleeping she barely moved, if it weren't for the minuscule breaths that she let out from time to time, someone would truly believe her to be a doll... or even worst, a corpse.

"Heeve-oh!" Meliodas suddenly lifted Trista's unmoving body over his shoulder in one motion and carried her like a sack of potato.

"Meliodas-sama?!" Elizabeth exclaimed in surprise before quickly closing her mouth with both her hands with a gasp, hoping that the loud sound she made didn't woke Trista up.

Thankfully the girl was keeping on sleeping soundly, unbothered by the noise around her.

"Pugo, pugo! What are you doing Meliodas?! Rude or not, manhandling a girl like that!" Even Hawk scolded him for his actions, despite his slight dislike over Trista's attitude, he was still a gentleman at heart! ...No, maybe a gentle-pig would be a more fitting description!

However Meliodas just shrugged, indifferent as he walked over the bed and thrown (softly) over his shoulder onto the bed. Gasps could be heard from behind but Meliodas didn't cared much about it as he answered, "Well it's not like she seems to mind anyway."

Indeed, Trista was sleeping, still indifferent from the outside reactions.

_'Besides if I were to carry a girl in my arms... I prefer to only do that with Elizabeth.'_ Meliodas thought in his mind as he nodded to himself in what seems to be a self-agreement, but from an outsider's point of view (like Elizabeth and Hawk) it would only look curious and confusing to see him nods to himself with his arms crossed silently.

"Now then, let's head straight towards Bernia Village! We needs to get our stock of ales replenished, we have arrived now so let's all take a walk up to there!" He stated, raising his finger upward, loud as if he was announcing one of the missions he often gave to his comrades of the Seven Deadly Sins, being perfectly aware that even if he continue to raise his voice, Trista wouldn't wake up from her deep slumber.

"M-Meliodas-sama? Err..." Elizabeth stuttered before glancing at Trista who was still sleeping on the bed twice and then switch her gaze back to Meliodas, "What about Trista-san?"

"Well it's not like we can wake her up when she's sleeping that soundly! We'll leave her here!"

"Eh?! But..." Elizabeth was still hesitant, her gentle nature made her feel unsure if it was something good to do or not.

"Let's just give her some rest, we'll bring her a souvenir!"

"Y-yes, you are right..." After that, Elizabeth agreed. And thus the two plus one pig set off for Bernia Village, leaving the last one sleeping back at the Boar Hat.

* * *

Around one hour later when Trista woke up...

"*Yawn*~!" Trista yawned as she held a hand in front of her opened mouth as she sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily before frowning slightly in confusion.

_'...This isn't the hard and cold floor I'm used to sleep on, why is it so soft and warm here? ...Oh, I am on a mattress?' _Trista thought, but the problem is that she remembered having slept on the floor, so how on earth did she arrived on the bed...?

In the end, she decided to pass on that, and come down from the bed, since she slept on the bedsheets, there was no need to try to tidy them, right...?

(Actually she wanted to sleep a bit more but because of the fact that she woke up due to sleeping on something she wasn't used to, her slumber didn't last long. Besides there was a certain emptiness she felt in the part around her stomach.)

So she left the room and then descended the stairs, before directing herself towards the closets at the bar counter to see if there was something to eat, since she left earlier too yesterday she didn't ate anything since then. But she didn't found much. Should she heads towards the food storage then? But everything over there was raw food that had yet been cooked. Maybe some sweet bread would do? And some cocoa for a drink too. Organizing all the plan in her mind, Trista began to search for something that could ease slightly the hunger she felt currently.

* * *

"Triss, I don't wanna critize you or anything but aren't you making yourself way too comfortable into other people's place?" Meliodas asked dryly with half-lidded eyes.

When Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk came back to the Boar Hat, they found Trista now half-awake (she still hasn't fully opened her eyes) and her head was still nodding off, sitting at the bar counter with a piece of bread on her plate and a cup of tea nearby (by the way small pots containing sugar, honey and jam were nearby).

"Please excuse us for our lateness Trista-san, because of some incident, we took more time than expected to come back." Elizabeth bowed her head in apology while Trista managed to sleepily waved her off with her hand.

"Hm... How rare, it's the first time I've seen Triss like this." Meliodas said as everyone started to walk towards her, then Hawk frowned slightly as he started to lean forward his hoofs on the bar counter's table and started to smell what's on Trista's plate and in her cup. "*Sniff, sniff!* ...How weird, why everything smell so sweet?"

The piece of bread on the plate Trista was using was supposed to be conserved with a little salt yet it was right now all covered with powdered sugar. While the tea, that was supposed to have mild-bitterness, was added with generous amount of sugar, milk, honey and even jam... An ultimate combinaison of oversweetness enough to make one vomit sugar...

"Did she got the amount wrong because she was half-asleep?" Hawk mumbled in confusion.

However this later proved to be wrong when Trista brought the bread to her mouth and started to munch slowly, and brought the tea to her lips and drunk it still being unfathered... as the others cringed in reaction, as if the oversweetness of both the bread and tea could be transmitted to them through telepathy even though they knew it was just their imaginations.

"Err... S-so, Trista-san likes sweet things...?" Elizabeth asked to Meliodas hesitantly, since both him and Trista seemed to be quite familiar with each other, so maybe he could answer her questions about the doll-like girl's particular attitude?

"...I'm seeing a lot of new sides of Triss that I didn't knew about before..." Meliodas mumbled that deep in thought, it seems that since it was unexpected to him too, he wouldn't be able to answer her questions.

"But even if she has a sweet tooth, isn't that overdoing it...?" Hawk muttered, torn between impressment and slight disgust. As the Captain Leftovers, he should eat everything in his plate without discrimination, but still he didn't think that he could still pull it off with a mountain of sugar covering his scraps. Wherever he should respect the girl for her courage or be slightly afraid for her overuse of condiments.

Meliodas then turned towards the last newcomer behind him, "Well, well, well... How about you explain us what's going on here?"

* * *

**...**

**...**

**...**

"TRISS, ARE YOU LISTENING?!"

"...?! No, I'm not!"

_'No, I was listening properly!'_

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Trista opened her eyes wide awake in shock due to the loud shouting near her ear, but then she blinked her eyes in a confused attitude and then directed her gaze towards the nearby Meliodas, who seemed to be a little way too close to her preference with his hand near his mouth as if he was creating an echo...

"So it was you the culprit, you rascal. Are you trying to turn me deaf?" Trista asked with a glare.

"Scary, scary." Meliodas mumbled so but he sounded way too nonchalant to be truly scared, "But still Triss, I knew that you were a blunt person but to think that you would mix your words and your thoughts... you're really a poor liar, aren't you? Or can you even properly lie in first place?"

"How rude of you, I must inform you that I am a really talented liar."

"As if."

"It's true though... Hm?" Trista then frowned slightly upon finding a fourth presence in the Boar Hat. To be more clear, it was a short and young boy with light brown hair that is skipped out in two like a broom and a scar under his left cheek. Who was it? Trista stared at him for one second, then two, and after the third...

"Oh!" She slammed her fist into her palm as if she was showing some recognization before poiting her index finger towards the boy, "I see, your illegimated child, is it?"

"""Eh...?""" Elizabeth, Hawk and even the little kid made in shock to her words.

Meliodas too was surprised at first, but his face soon turned into a mischevious expression as he moved at a lightening speed. Suddenly Elizabeth let out a squeak upon feeling an arm wrapping itself around her waist, seeing that Meliodas was the one who did so as he was pulling her closer to himself and then exclaimed with a smile on his face, "Indeed! This is the crystallization of our love, please welcome him!"

""...EEEEHHHH?!"" Elizabeth and the kid cried out. The kid was more horrified and shocked than anything while Elizabeth was from surprise at Meliodas' bold announcement and embarrassed about its contents. Her face flushed scarlet to the tips of her ears.

"What are you talking about?! There's no way such a thing is possible!" Hawk cried out angrily at what Trista was insinuating. Of course he didn't knew if that Meliodas actually sired some children or not (his appearance didn't changed since when he met him 10 years ago after all) but there's no way that such a good girl like Elizabeth would actually... with him of all people!

Trista just remained indifferent as she ignored what Hawk said and continued to speak with her fingers crossed together, "Your child doesn't ressemble you at all."

"Well not every children take after their parents, you know?" Meliodas answered without missing a beat.

"I can't deny that..." For some reason Trista averted her eyes for a second.

It was then that Elizabeth's embarrassment reached its peak and she started to panic and sweat in nervosity, "I-It's wrong! I don't have any children with Meliodas-sama! Mead-chan is a villager from Bernia Village!"

"Of course that I know that."

"...Eh?"

"I was just joking, and so was Meliodas." Trista said, her expression unchanging

"I-Is that so...?" Elizabeth breathed out of relief as Meliodas finally let his hand go of her waist as he said, "Geez, you're no fun Triss, letting the cat out of the bag so early."

"You shouldn't even joke about such things!" Hawk bite and pulled on the strands of Meliodas' hair with his teeths, making the blond all disheveled. Then he directed his glare towards Trista, "And YOU! Don't make jokes with such a serious face! We almost believed that it was true!"

"I just happen to have this face." Trista replied blankly.

"Pugyaa! That's not what I mean!"

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"Gah! Just shut up already!"

"What... so it was truly a lie, huh...?"

""""...?"""" All of them turned towards the boy, or Mead, clenched the hems of his shirt with his trembling hands.

Trista sighed and then added, "Well while it's true that some children may not take after their parents, but if they truly inheritated their blood then they should at least have some similarities wherever it is physically or mentally. Well putting the physical attributes asides, mental attributes can also be inherited by adopted children not related by blood."

"There's no need for such a long and precise explanation, you know?" Even though Meliodas just told her that flatly, Trista just shrugged in response. Perhaps he was instinctively sensing a certain tension coming from Mead and tried to ease the mood a bit, but it didn't seemed to work unfortunately.

"So you're making fun of me too?! Just because I'm an orphan?!"

"...!"

"..."

"...?"

Everyone had a different reaction to his words, Elizabeth gasped and looked down with a expression that showed guilt, Meliodas just stayed silent and stared back at him while Trista just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I don't remember saying such a thing though?"

"Liar! I bet that you were mocking me too! About the fact that I'm an orphan, that I'm parentless!"

"I-It's wrong, Mead-chan! I-I'm sure that neither Trista-san or Meliodas-sama were thinking about such things! Besides I was too an orphan and often did things to get my parents' attention! But..." Elizabeth tried to calm him down. Of course his anger was understandable, as an orphan even if he was raised by an affectionate guardian, he would still yearns for the closeness possessed by children and their blood-related parents. So it couldn't be helped if he misunderstood those words in a bad way...

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Everyone is the same! Always looking down on me because I'm a kid like that! I hate this! I hate everyone! Always isolating me like that..."

Meliodas rubbed his head awkwardly, things were going towards a bad direction. Actually he just invited the boy over to find out wherever he truly knew the location of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, but to think that things turned like this...

"Pathetic." However only one person didn't pitied him. Everyone was shocked to see that the one who uttered that single word was no other than Trista herself.

"What did you said?!" Mead screamed back angrily, fury in his eyes. While Elizabeth started to worry over what might happen next, Meliodas seemed to be amazed at what Trista just said while Hawk started to look forward (both positively and in a negative manner).

Yet Trista's strong and slightly intimidating gaze didn't wavered and her firm facial expression didn't changed either, this made the earlier furious Mead flinch and waver slightly in fear. She leaned back on her seat and started to speak with her usually neutral voice. "So you are actually an orphan, huh? Well I was not aware of your situation until you just said it earlier so if I accidentally offended you with my words, I shall take them back and apologize. However there is one thing I won't take back; pathetic."

"What?!"

"Exactly what I said. Indeed you are an orphan, indeed you are parentless and your circumstances are indeed unfortunates. However the way you are acting as if you were the most miserable of the world just irritates me."

"Y-You, what do you even know about me?!"

"I know nothing about you personally, but there are many things that I can deduce from your appearance alone. Your clothes are clean and proper, you don't have a too thin build and your cheeks are round and puffy, your steps are steady and I can't find any traces of physical handicaps about you."

"And what are you supposed to know with that?!" How dare she try to lecture him?!

"That you have a proper caretacker, being feed properly and that you aren't being physically abused. Despite being not related by blood that person is properly taking care of you, so why are you being so unsatisfied for?"

"Th-That's because..."

"There are people who are suffering far more in the world compared to you, everything that you have currently they have nothing of it, yet all I can see from you is just simply some childish selfishness. Why are human beings always seeking for more than what they already have would be something I would never understand. And from what I can see, it's not like as if your caretaker was not affectionate with you, a child as young as you would have an hard time to do houseworks on your own so that caretaker is probably doing everything in your stead, right? But it seems that you had done something that you feel guilty about and ended up creating some distances between you and that person... well everything is just based on my own assumptions so you feel free to correct me if I am wrong."

"U-Uuh..." Indeed all Trista's statements were all spot-on so Mead couldn't find anything to say in order to deny her words. The village's chief with whom Mead was living was always kindly taking care of him and doing everything alone for his sake, yet when he did that stupid prank that caused that bad Holy Knights to seal their water source, the chief was also the only one who didn't blamed him and continued to treats him with kindness while all the village was ressenting him for what he had done, and yet... and yet he...

"T-Trista-san..." Elizabeth was reaching an hesitant hand towards Trsista, trying to call out to her to stop talking further. Near her, Mead was already on the verge of crying as he could only tremble silently as he was holding back his not-so-quiet sobs.

"Oi, even I think that you are going too far there." Hawk too was showing a disapproving look. Meliodas, him, continued to watch everything silently, his expression unreadable. But then, Trista said another unexpected thing.

"However, you aren't the only one who is in the wrong."

"...Eh?" Mead slowly raised his head upward and looked at Trista in a confused manner. Everyone too did the same.

However the person herself didn't noticed it at all as she continued to speak with her eyes closed, "Even though indeed there could have been better actions than that prank you pulled especially towards a Holy Knight in bad mood, in the end you only ended up provoking him and made the situation turns worst than how it was already."

"...Uuh..." And with that Mead lowered his head once more.

But Trista wasn't finished with it yet, "However wherever if it was you were aware of the consequences or not, you were the only one who mustered your courage and openly expressed your opposition towards the insults of the Holy Knights towards your village's pride. Even when all the adults who shut themselves up while they probably thought the same as you, you were the only one who expressed a reaction like that."

"..."

"There was still better ways of doing things, but it shows despite being an orphan as much as you like to repeat it, you care as much for this village than anyone else here."

"...!" All of them showed shocked expressions between how different she sounded from earlier.

Meliodas' expression turned into a smirk as he looked over Trista, "Hohoh~ Well weren't you listening properly, Triss? I thought that you weren't listening at all."

"Sugar takes time to work out you know? I only heard from one ear." Even though her words were spoken smoothly, she never met Meliodas' gaze. Meliodas just shrugged and muttered something among the lines of 'Seriously, she sure isn't honest...'. Elizabeth and Hawk just looked at each other in confusion.

Trista then stood up from her seat and then went to fetch her cape (or rather the cape that Elizabeth used previously when she escaped the castle) as she put it on and walked towards Mead, the latter originally would have shut his eyes closed in fear but now everything was too sudden that he didn't had the time to react or anything, and then when Trista passed across him...

"You can at least be proud of yourself for that, you did well." So she said along with a small pat on his shoulder, and she left the Boar Hat.

Meliodas then sighed out loud as he exclaimed, "Hah! Seriously, as always Triss is using her tongue as a whip, how scary, the majority of her scoldings too always seems to hits right where it hurts!"

"Scoldings?! You call that a scolding?!" Hawk replied, shocked or rather more like horrified, "To me it sounded like high-class criticisism!"

"Well I can't deny that either, if you're the target then the feeling would be similar of being pierced by burning hot white knives, besides it's even worst when everything she says is actually the truth."

"So you were once a target too?! Damn, I pity you, man!" For one of the rare time, Hawk showed a certain level of compassion towards Meliodas.

Elizabeth then thought about it for a while and then realized with a gasp as she turned towards the exit where Trista left. _'Could it be that, Trista-san...?!' _However her gaze happened to met Meliodas' and as if he managed to read what she was thinking in one instant, Meliodas nodded to her with a smile on his face.

Then Meliodas walked towards Mead just like Trista did earlier and then instead of putting his hand on the boy's shoulder, he instead settled his hand in the boy's hair as if he was trying to pat his head and then said with a grin on his face. "Isn't that great? Triss critizes a lot but she rarely gives praises! It means that even if you have a lot of flaws, you have been properly recognized by someone!"

"..." Mead was silent, his eyes wide open as Meliodas' words registered in his mind after passing through his ears.

_"You can at least be proud of yourself for that, you did well."_

After hearing them he finally realized it, that those were the words he always yearned to hear deep inside his hert. However to think that it wouldn't be a member of the same village or even his adopted parent but a total stranger who would say it to him... Indeed, everything that she had said about him was the pure and cruel truth, a truth that he never wanted to admit neither he wanted to face, he always ran away from it by acting as if he couldn't realized it. Acting as an unwanted child in order to escape his own loneliness. But even so...

_"you did well."_

"...Uuh...!" He couldn't stop his tears from overflowing, he felt geniunely happy that even if it was by a stranger whom he barely knew of not even one hour, he felt happy. And so he cried, he cried his heart out, he ran paost the blonde and went bury himself into the legs of the kind silver-haired lady to hide his face. He felt like he heard a noise of protest coming from behind him, but... since the lady was kindly hugging him back then it should just be his imagination, yeah! And the killing intent he feel coming from his back is surelyt he same too, yeah!

(Of course Mead had no any perverted intention with his actions, he was genuinely emotionally overwelmed and went to find some comfort and support from what looked like the kindest person around, now if Meliodas could kindly understand this and let him go...)

* * *

"So may I ask what you people are doing here?" Now they were at the plaza of the Bernia Village where the sword was stuck in the ground. Trista being hidden under her hood was looking at Meliodas, Elizabeth and Mead who came to catch her back up just a bit after she departed (Hawk seemed to have stayed behind in the Boar Hat).

Mead seems to be slightly hesitant but after taking a deep breath, with a determined look on his face, he looked straightly at Trista and said, "I-I'm going to prove you that even I can admit my own errors and change myself!" And with that he ran towards the hoard of villagers who were still trying to pull out the sword out of the ground with the handle being wrapped in ropes.

After that, Trista didn't heard much of what happened. Wherever it was because her mind wasn't fully focused on that or simply because they were at a too far distance from the place but she saw how the villagers were scorning Mead at the beginning, and then the boy himself accepting all their words before bowing his head in apology (or what it seemed to be) and the villgers starting to falter. And then an elder man who seemed to be the village's chief that Mead had mentioned went at the center of everyone and then whatever he said, everyone calmed down. After seeming to have reached an agreement, everyone along with Mead tried to pull the sword out while the soldiers who came to collect the taxes were laughing at them. In the end this another attempt ended up as a failure because everyone fell exhausted, unable to make the sword even move a little.

Seeing this, Trista couldn't help but sighs. For some reason she could almost hear the soldiers' laugh and it annoyed her. Meliodas seemed to wanted to act too but he stopped once he saw her move.

The soldiers who saw her started to mock her now and the villagers who were laying in exhaustion on the ground tried to dissuade her from trying it in order to not hurt herself. However she didn't paid attention to any as she wrapped her hand around the handle of the sword and tried to pull it out before feeling something curious.

_'This is…'_ She has noted with slight interest, it was no wonder that nobody than a Holy Knight was supposed to take it out. It was as if her hand was electrocuted by a lightning buzz, just a bit her hand felt numb. What the heck is this sword trying to say? Go ahead and try to pull me out, punk. Do that and you'll be the king of legend? As if!

Indeed maybe pulling out with raw strength would probably be impossible for her, it's surely possible for the blond who was watching her now but not for her, not for the current her who didn't even had HIM with her. But still, it didn't meant that there weren't any other ways of doing. There was a high magic concentration placed inside the sword that was charging electricity through the ground in order to block the water from flowing out of its source, so instead of charging through the ground downward, it could be directed towards another direction, for example on her right side and then upward...

"OOOWWW?!" She heard the soldiers nearby screaming out of pain as they jumped out of their seat and rubbed their burned black butts, from the spot where they were sitting, what seemed like to be lightning that was coming out of the ground.

And after all the energy charged in the sword was properly being conducted out…

***Tching...***

The sword was successfully pulled out… She could hear the shocks and amazements of the surrounding villagers, and also the disbeliefs of the soldiers.

"Impossible! For a sword that only a Lord Holy Knight can pull out… why on earth a little girl like that succeeded when 20 of the most muscular villagers together failed at?!"

"...? ...Oh." Oops, it seemed that when she pulled the sword out, with the movement, her hood fell down by the same occasion. What a failure even though she was trying her best to avoid attracting attention. Oh but well, whatever, it's not like it was that important or anything.

"Why on earth are the taxes still not being collected?!" A gruff voice was heard.

Once the soldiers heard it, it seemed that they immediately shook in fear as they immediately threw the mugs they had in hand onto the ground as if they wanted to hide the fact that they were lazing around instead of doing their work and immediately bowed. "Twigo-sama!"

What approached was a very large man with a peculiar curly mustache and thick plucked eyebrow. He has a fairly ordinary buzz cut hairstyle and angular face and wore a red-colored armor.

"Twigo-sama, that girl over there just removed the sword that Gilthunder-sama had planted there previously!"

"What?" Twigo seems to refuse to believe in it as he carefully scrutinized Trista under his gaze, Trista only blinking back at him, before he quickly turned back to his two subordinates and then screamed at them, "Are you trying to mock me?! There's no way such a tiny little wench was able to do such a feat!"

_'Well sorry for being a tiny little wench that is supposedly unable to pull out a sword of the ground then…'_ Trista silently apologized in her mind for falling this man's expectation. Well while it was indeed hard to believe, it was still the truth after all... If he were to try and kill his subordinates just because he didn't believed their words then wouldn't she be declared as guilty of this?

The two soldiers shrieked in fear but still mustered the courage to speak, "B-But it's the truth Twigo-sama! We properly saw it happen with our own eyes, and even all the villagers here are witnesses of this!"

After a little more thought to their words, Twigo nodded and the two soldiers seems to sighs in relief, the man then turned to her before pulling his sword out of its sheath and, "If it's indeed the truth then she should at least have the strength of a Holy Knight, yet I can't remember such a face. So… Confirmed! It would be one unknown casualty's death!" And he swung his sword at her.

***TCHINK!***

However the sword never met its target. Instead, the sound of metal clashing against each other was heard.

Twigo widened his eyes in shock as he saw that Trista managed to block his sword with the sword she just pulled out. While he swung his sword in a vertical manner, the girl held both the edge and the handle with both hands horizontally, blocking the sharp side of his blade with the flat side of her own. Originally, the latter should have snapped in two, but mysteriously it was holding up despite the enormous difference of builds between the two.

"You, how dare you change my confirmation?!" Twigo screamed angrily as he continued to push the blade forward while Trista managed to block all of his attempts. And then…

"Ah, geez! As expected physical battles like that don't fits me! Meliodas, get over here and switch places with me, will you?!"

"And here I thought that you would take care of it alone!"

"What?!" The mention of a familiar name made Twigo lost his guard and at that moment, Meliodas closed the distance between them in a single run and clashed his broken blade against Twigo's sword, pushing him back of a few meters.

Upon seeing Meliodas' form, Twigo widened his eyes in a mix of shock and possible fear as he repeated to himself, "Impossible… impossible! But for you to be here, shouldn't you have been dead?! No, rather than that, more than anything… Why do you still look exactly the same as 10 years ago?!"

However Meliodas and Trista ignored Twigo as they had been whispering to each other, "Meliodas, what about Elizabeth?"

"Don't worry, I asked her to hide in safety, it would be bad if he were to recognize her here. After all even if there are no rumors about a certain Rust Knight wandering around, there are still news about the Third Princess of Liones who disappeared from her kingdom."

"Do you need to use this sword?"

"Nah, I'm fine with this broken blade, but still thanks."

"So… you aren't going for the kill? You know that he will come for you guys again, right?"

"Yeah, but still!"

"...You sure became weak."

"Hm, if it's your way to say to me that I'm kind then I'll take it in a positive manner!"

"How long are you two going to ignore me?! Confirmed! It's not going to be one death anymore but two now!" Filled with rage, Twigo charged forward, his sword raised and filled with his magic power.

"Geez, what an impatient one, don't you think Triss?"

"Meliodas, push him back till the closed well over there."

"You sure?"

"If things works out properly then it would be more quick and easy to end it."

With a nods, Meliodas moved forward just like how Twigo did, and when Twigo swung his sword of all his strength. However Meliodas then swung his sword at his turn, one moment later, and then with a sound of a sword's chiming sound, Twigo found his attack being thrown back at him in one go with twice the amount of power in it.

Having taken the blast from the front, Twigo was propulsed to the well where his subordinates were sitting earlier. But the moment he crashed against it, the earth around them was started to trembles and then a earthquake, and suddenly a torrent of water emerged from the ground and thrown Twigo who was on the top of it, was thrown far far far away in the air.

WIth their superior being blown away like that, the soldiers couldn't help but shake in fear as Trista approached them and was about to hand over the sword in her hand, but…

**"AAAAAAHHH!"** ...It seems that they misunderstood it as like how she would use the sword to stab them. So in the end the sheathless sword stayed in her hand.

The crowd was looking at them with a shocked look, before one second of silence, and another, then…

**"WOOOOOOOOOOW!"** The crowd roared in joy as the previously restrained water fell on them as if it was raining, cheers were heard around them.

"It's water!"

"The underground spring is back!"

"Thanks goodness, both of you are alright!" Elizabeth ran towards them with a relieved expression, Meliodas smiled to her while Trista didn't showed much reaction to it. Elizabeth then looked at Meliodas and Trista in amazement, _'Amazing... This is the strength of one of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Guardian of the Great Library Room!'_

Then the one who approached this time was Mead, with a slight hopeful expression he asked, "C-Could it be that the two of you," He looked at both Trista and Meliodas, "The two of you possibly are real…!"

"Yeah, there's no need to ask 'possibly', I'm a real proud bar master!" Meliodas pointed to himself with his thumb with a proud look.

Trista immediately followed what he said, "And I am without doubt a splendid freeloader at his place."

"That's not what I mean!" Mead immediately retorted, "And is the last one really something you should be proud about?!"

"Well enough of that, don't you have something to do?" Meliodas put his hands on Mead's shoulders and pushed him forward, making him face the villagers who looked at him with looks filled with guilt and self-remorse.

"Mead..."

"Um... We're sorry..."

"Can you forgive us...?"

Mead just looked downward, unable to meet their gazes, "Humph... Forgive or not... Something like me don't have the right to..."

However Meliodas gave him another push forward, Mead turned back to look at him hesitantly, seeing him smile, Elizabeth besides him was smiling too. Lastly he turned his gaze towards Trista, the girl who happened to notice his gaze just sighed and gave him a nods. Taking a deep breath, Mead turned to the villagers once again, each of them were calling him his name one by one. In the end, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore and broke in tears before jumping into the open arms of the villagers who happily welcomed him.

Elizabeth smiled fondly at the scene while Meliodas too smiled but said with a small sigh, "No matter what lies you make up, you can't lie to your own heart."

Elizabeth looked at Meliodas in confusion, seeing him with a distant expression on his face, his smile no longer on his face, "Meliodas-sama...?" She couldn't understand the expression he was currently making. And for some reason Trista too was strangely silent, staring at Meliodas with an unreadable expression of her own.

* * *

**A/N.: And with that it's the end of the Introduction Arc! The next arc would be the one in the Forest of White Dreams! With Gilthunder being probably in the next chapter! The original scenes from the anime/manga were changed, I hope that you wouldn't mind it too much! I just thought that following the original plot from A to Z would be a little boring so I opted for some small changes! The reason would be explained later on. And you can say that Trista is using polite japanese speech but because her words are pretty rude, it's sound more insulting than anything XD**

**I'm sorry if Trista seems to much like a villain here and Mead too much of a brat but I truly needed this scene to show more of Trista's personality, I hope that it didn't disgusted you to the point of stop reading the fanfic altogether. It's because I'm such a tragedy maniac... (T_T) And sorry if the small battle scene seemed to be too boring.**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 3: **_"i love it! I loved the interaction between Tristan and Meliodas!"

_**My answer:**_ Thank you and I hope that you will like their future interactions too!

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 3: **_"Simple, yet entertaining chapter, i'm always more curious about Trista's identity: my biggest hypothesis for now are that she's related to one of the other Sins(i've yet to see a sibling story in the fandom), maybe even the daughter of another Elizabeth and Meliodas. Good work and hoping for badass fights"

_**A.:**_ Thank you, I'm not good at writing battle scenes, but I'll still try my best!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 3: **_"Okay, so from their exchange (Meliodas and Trista, I mean) I believe Trista can fight well enough (of course), not to mention I believe Meliodas is the type of a father who will raise his children with teach and let them know how to defend themselves. My impression? I love the interaction between Meliodas and Trista hohoho  
keep a good work~ I'll wait for next chapter~"

**_A.:_** Thank you for your review! I'll try to make the scenes match your anticipation and I hope that you will be happy to read the next chapters too!


	5. Forest of White Dreams Arc - I

**A/N.: Hello everyone. I'm writing this while my parents are in the middle of an argument (with me again being their main topic) as a way to escape from it myself, I don't want to see them yelling at each other but I don't want to turn their anger at me either... What to do? But anyway. Here is the new chapter! I hope you will enjoy it! And please don't forget to review! (Thanks to the ones who always has the kindness to do so)**

* * *

**FOREST OF WHITE DREAMS ARC - I : _What One Must Do_**

* * *

"Now that I look carefully, you sure put a princess in quite an outrageous outfit, didn't you, Meliodas?"

"Wait a second, this is only now you noticed it?!" Hawk looked at Trista in shock while Meliodas just said back nonchalantly, "You sure took your time, Triss. Usually aren't you way too observant compared to right now?"

When the three went back to Boar Hat after being praised and thanked by many villagers, Hawk was there to welcome them back. And only now Trista noticed that something that she should have noticed since quite a while ago. The particular outfit Princess Elizabeth was wearing, which was... not really befitting for a princess, if one must say.

However she wasn't the least ashamed of her small blunder, "You should know that tired people often have their field of visions and attentions lowered around them, besides with everything that happened, how could I have noticed such a trivial matter?"

"...Triss, do you really need to find an answer to everything."

"Well, don't you think it's at least better to not have an answer at all?"

Meliodas just sighed at her in response while Trista looked over at Elizabeth's attire, the latter felt slightly nervous under Trista scrutinitzing gaze. And after thinking a bit, Trista made an 'Hmm...' sound before Meliodas leaned over and asked, "So, what's your opinion?"

Trista then pointed at Elizabeth's pink top and said, "No good. There's not enough covering."

"Finally someone who can understand!" Hawk yelled in victory, glad that the girl had at least enough common sense to affirm that.

Meliodas then crossed his arms and looked at Elizabeth carefully (making her even more nervous by the same occasion) as he hummed in thought, "Hm... You think? Personally I think I designed a masterpiece."

"...So you were the one who asked for it to be like that?" Trista looked at him with an incredulous look on her face whil Meliodas nodded seriously, "I did."

"You pervert!" Hawk cried so but both didn't cared much about his opinion to answer him, too focused on their own discussion, as Elizabeth started to blush in embarrassment, being the topic of their talks and with how they are looking at her as if they were studying her...

"The sleeves should be longer. And why are you only making her wear one knee-sock? Even though I know that now weather is start to get a bit warmer, she can still catch cold."

"It's called 'fashion' if you can't understand."

"What would you do if she were to get hurt because there wasn't clothes covering her skin?"

"I know she's clumsy but not to that point, come on."

"...Uuh..." Elizabeth just blushed even redder in embarrassment as she lowered her head to avoid meeting their gazes, suddenly remembering her many falls due to her clumsiness.

"...It's not what I meant." Trista said a bit more lowly while Meliodas raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Then what do you mean?"

"..."

"Triss?"

"No, nevermind."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm..." Meliodas hummed in thought while Elizabeth and Hawk looked at each other in confusion, and then Meliodas' face suddenly became mischevious as he raised a finger, "Oh, but what about the length of the skirt then~?"

"I have absolutely no problem with this."

"JUST WAIT A SECOND?!" Hawk yelled out all of the sudden while Elizabeth looked at her surprised, "What do you mean by 'no problem with this'?! Isn't the skirt the largest problem of all?!"

"Well, I mean... since we will keep on moving around, shouldn't she wear something that doesn't restrain the movement of her legs?"

"You have indeed a point here, but still...!"

"Of course she may feel a bit cold but it's better to be able to run without hindrance when you need to, right?" Trista asked curiously, tilting her head on the side.

"As expected of Triss! I knew it that you would understand." Meliodas had a smirk on his face as he gave his 'partner-in-crime' a thumb-up, of course Trista didn't understood it with so many '?' signs over her head.

_'...For some reasons, I feel like the two aren't on the same page at all.'_ Elizabeth thought with a nervous smile on her face as Hawk started to scold the two all over and again while she was watching a little behind.

One was focusing on the 'appeal', 'discovering' and the 'eye-candy' while the other was focusing on the 'comfort', 'easy-to-move-iness' and the 'security'. It would be of course obvious that those two wouldn't be on the same page. Well, Meliodas seems to have noticed it but still played along with that while Trista didn't seemed to have realized it and was still confused... Indeed as he said, she was surprisingly slow over the most obvious of things, how mysterious.

"Now let's put all of this aside..." Meliodas then lowered himself behind the bar's counter as if he was searching for something before taking out a small pouch filled with silver coins and put it on the table. "How about Elizabeth and Hawk go on an errand?"

""An errand?!"" Both said person (and pig) said in surprise together.

"With Hawk-chan...?" "With Elizabeth-chan...?" That too was in perfect syncro, with the princess tilting her head on the side and the pig's frowning.

"We have some people from Bernia Village coming tonight in order to celebrate. Get some herbs and fruits with these silver coins. For a princess who never went on a shopping trip, it'll be a good experience for you, right?" Meliodas explained, "Of course Triss can go with you guys, but..."

Trista then finished what Meliodas wanted to say as if she read his mind, "Unfortunately my outfit stands out too much and create an unnecessary attention." Of course this wasn't the only reason she didn't wanted to go, she simply didn't wanted to deal with the overattention of the villagers again. They are kind okay, but also a bit stuffy.

Elizabeth picked up a silver coin before looking at it carefully as if she was seeing something unknown to her up until now, "So this is a silver coin..." She murmured in amazement.

This caused Meliodas to raise an eyebrow, "...Are you telling me that you've never seen any coins other than gold ones before?"

"So you really trade for goods with these things?"

"It goes down to that level, huh?" Meliodas couldn't help but make his head fall a little forward in response. Even before he became a bar master, he was at least used to money enough to be using them on daily occasion. Or rather, it was even surprising that one didn't knew the existence of silver coins up until now, even the little kids of the Bernia Village knew about it. However it seems that the princess in front of him didn't even knew about that so much she was sheltered.

"...At least thankfully she knows that you needs to exchange things with money when you buy them." Trista sighed in relief on the other side while Elizabeth who overheard it and pouted, "E-Even I was taught that!"

But even so, Meliodas couldn't help but agree silently with Trista's words in his mind. It would be worrying for her to go on an errand alone, being naïve as she is, thus making Hawk's help at her sides indispensable. Meliodas so turned to Hawk, "Hawk! Go with her for support!"

"And you're going to just house-sit?" Hawk asked back to him but surprisingly it wasn't Meliodas who answered.

"No, the one who is going to house-sit is me." It was Trista who said that without a single hint of embarrassment as she pointed at herself.

"SO IT'S YOU?!" Hawk retorted, he was expecting Meliodas to say that so he didn't expected Trista to say such a thing that Meliodas would say... no actually maybe he should have expected it with how they seems to get along well. If she is someone that can keep up with Meliodas' weird logics then why should she be any different from him?!

"And besides didn't you already rested enough this morning?! Why again?!"

"I am more of an indoor-type as you see, and for the first time in a while, I did some exercise."

"Just how lazy are you?!"

"I am an hardworker, can I not rest from time to time?"

"What on earth about you is an hardworker?!"

"Hoh, hoh... Aren't they getting along pretty well, right? Elizabeth."

"U-Um... I guess?" This time it was Trista and Hawk who were on displayed on the 'stage' while Meliodas and Elizabeth watched and commented by the sidelines. However all Elizabeth could see was Hawk getting one-sidedly angry towards Trista because of her words, could this be truly called 'getting along'? Or maybe it was also similar to the particular interaction between Meliodas and Trista.

(Though if Hawk were to hear their conversation, he would deny it of all his strength.)

"And to answer your question Hawk, I'm going to hunt tonight's main dish , the DUSK BISON!" Meliodas raised a finger with a smile on his face, "I've been told that it's a pest that's been making a mess of the village's farms at around dusk. If I catch it, it's killing two birds with one stone!"

"Please be careful." Elizabeth begged.

"Yep!"

"...Elizabeth, you are aware that if he can beat a Holy Knight apprentice then he can easily beat a herbivore beast." Trista commented on the side.

"B-But, I think that we should still worry about Meliodas-sama's wellbeing..."

"That's right! As expected of Elizabeth! Triss, learn one thing or two from her!"

"Pugo... Pugo..." Hawk who had been leaning his upper self on the wooden round stool as he blowed a bit of steams through his nostrils and then after a small time of thought, he said. "Hey, Meliodas, I'm not a big fan of beef, though."

This caused everything to look at him, with Meliodas asking him the question in everyone's mind, "Huh? What do your preferences have to do with anything?"

Hawk then answered as if it was the most obvious thing of the world without missing a beat, "You're going to cook it right? It's all going to end up with me eating it eventualy."

Meliodas stayed with a blank face for a second, and then...

***BONK!***

"OW!" Hawk cried in pain.

Both Elizabeth and Trista thought in unison. _'Ah, he has a point there...'_ But didn't said it aloud to Meliodas, it goes without telling that Meliodas' cooking was horrible and of course he knew it himself as he could even proudly declare it to be so, so why on earth was he still getting offended for now of all times? Elizabeth would probably be able to escape punishment but nothing says that Trista will be able to do the same.

Thus it had been decided that Elizabeth and Hawk would go to Bernia Village in order to buy the necessary things for tonight's shift...

"Lalalan~ Alright! Let's do our best and complete this important mission~!" Elizabeth said in a sing-song voice as she almost hopped in happiness with a basket wrapped around her arm, finally happy to be of some use to her life savior. She almost forgotten that this important mission was a shopping trip.

Hawk was trotting near her with three large bumps caused by Meliodas' fist of anger(?), "Even though it's an important mission, don't focus too much on it."

"Yes!"

Seeing those two off from afar as their backs became smaller and smaller in the distance, Meliodas turned to Trista and asked her "Do you think they're going to be alright...?"

Trista just shrugged her shoulders, "Well what can turn wrong?" (It would be only later on that she would discover that she was the one who was wrong though.)

"Hm... Can you go and follow them to make sure things turn out right?"

"Are you asking me to play the stalkers?"

"Yup."

"I refuse." Though he asked it seriously, he was immediately turned down.

"Hm... It can't be helped, then I'll go follow those two so Triss, can you go defeat that Dusk Bison and..." However when Meliodas turned around, Trista wasn't even here anymore, having gone back inside the Boar Hat with no intention to listen to his words.

_'Well, I guess it can't be helped...' _Meliodas sighed as he stratched his head and was about to prepare himself for his hunt.

**[And a little later on, after Elizabeth and Hawk are back from their errand...]**

"...And that's how all the silver coins went into my leftovers! And nothing was wasted." Hawk finished to explain while licking his lips covered with leftovers fruits and vegetables while blowing his nose proudly while Elizabeth hesitantly extended a comb in her hands towards Meliodas, "Th-This is a souvenir..."

Both Meliodas and Trista were looking at the two blankly, indeed as it is showed, the two failed their missions and instead of what was needed for, they bought back some unneeded things, using up all the money that had been given to them and also ended up wasting all the ingredients that a villager kindly shared with them. Then Meliodas turned to Trista with a look 'I told you so, right?' but Trista silently shrugged as if to say 'How could I have known that it would turn like this?'.

"I see, I see." Meliodas nodded passively, making the two slightly hopeful that he wouldn't be angry with their errors, however he quickly pulled on Hawk's ear hardly enough to make the puig yelps in pain and fear. All of this with his expression still unchanging and his voice being the same as usual, "Come to think of it, I heard that the meat of pigs that eat vegetables and herbs has less of an odor and is more juicy."

"EEEEEEK! He's mad after all?!" And moreover he speak in a threatening manner more frightening than usual?! Hawk was almost to the point of crying of terror as he tried everything he could in order to run away but didn't managed to escape the Mini-Bar Master's iron grip after all.

"Of course it is disappointing." Trista frowned slightly, "I was expecting more from you Elizabeth. To think that both of you would fall to the temptation..."

"Uuh... I am sincerely sorry to have failed your expectations, Trista-san..." Elizabeth looked down in a guilty manner before she suddenly reminded herself of something with a 'Ah!' before going to take something from the basket and presenting a small box to Trista, "And here is for you, Trista-san. Since I heard that you liked sweet things, I bought you some cocoa powder."

"Okay, you are forgiven." Trista said immediately without a single moment of hesitation which was completely different from her previous attitude, as she gratefully accepted Elizabeth's peace offering.

"Oi, oi, oi. Triss, aren't you way too quick to change your mind?" Meliodas nearby who was still punishing Hawk, looked up and criticized Trista who was observing the cocoa power box with great interest.

Trista didn't even turned to look at him, her eyes still fixed on the box, as she answered him. "Sweetness is justice, you who have no cocoa here is the one in the wrong." And with that Trista quickly ran into the kitchen, not caring about the questionable gazes casted on her back.

"Where are you going, Triss~?!" Meliodas yelled out while he received another answer from the kitchen, louder than he had ever heard from her and much louder than what he had originally expected, "What am I doing? Making a cup of hot chocolate of course! Duty is calling me, isn't it obvious that this is what you must do when you receive such a thing?!"

"...She has been completely lured by food, huh?" Meliodas noted, "Didn't expecting such a side from you, Elizabeth."

"E-Eh?! No way, I didn't do it with such intentions in mind!" Elizabeth shook her head and her hands in frantic denial, of course it was obvious to Meliodas that Elizabeth only wanted to make Trista happy (which she seems to have succeeded) and didn't thought about anything else but that. However because of that same one's unexpected sweet tooth, it seems that he had lost a valuable ally in this argument. So he just borrowed the comb that Elizabeth and tried it silently at his turn, on his hair.

"H-How is it? The feeling of the comb...?" Elizabeth asked shyly but Meliodas didn't answered as he took off the comb from his hair, his hair didn't held up the pressure and returned at their original messy state.

"...Ah." Elizabeth made, feeling suddenly a bit scared of what may happen next since it didn't worked. As expected would she receive the same punishment as Hawk? And the fact that Meliodas keep on silently staring at her and disguarded the pig nearby didn't helped her to calm down at all. And...

"Elizabeth, you must be punished too." Meliodas announced so solemnly as he raised both his hands forward, at this moment Elizabeth knew that there were no longer any escape route for her... and it was the beginning of an endless amount of groping time...

"You actually just wanted an excuse to grope her, right? Ah, and Elizabeth, by the way the thing on his head isn't a bedhair. And also, the next time that you buy cocoa, don't forget to have some chocolate biscuits and marshmallows together with it." So Trista added while drinking a cup of freshly made hot chocolate. ...Yes, it seems that in a way or another, she too would waste money like they did. In the end, Meliodas resolved himself to buy the necessities on his own (not like he wasn't wasting money on ale either though).

* * *

About 7 miles North-West from the Bernia Village, there was a fortress with single tower standing among the mountains. It was the Fort Solgales.

A soldier covered with a metal helmet explained in a hasty, panicked and also frightened manner, "Ju-Just now, we received a report from the soldiers who were with Apprentice Holy Knight Twigo who were stationed at Bernia Village… An unidentified child… Um… pulled Gilthunder-sama's sword out! ...What do you think about this, sir?"

A relatively tall and handsome young man with slightly curled, short pink-colored hair and blue eyes and wearing a silver armor with a white cape was sitting on a chair behind a wooden desk inside the room. However, the man's expression was unchanging despite the shocking news he just received. Thinking carefully about the informations he just received with a cold demeanor.

The soldier could only wait the verdict with sweat wetting his hands that had been clenched into fists, from the rumors and also from what he can actually see since he was under his service, but Gilthunder was known to be a strong Holy Knight. Being Diamond-ranked, he was among the top and also the son of the previous and deceased Great Holy Knight Zaratras, who inherited of the latter's powerful lightening magic. And that he was also a Holy Knight feared for his cruelty, serious and mercilessly attitude towards the people who dared to cause his wrath, what happened to the Bernia Village was an example about it. And if he were to do anything that may displease him...! The soldier couldn't help but tremble at that thought, doing his best to be at a perfect behavior...

"Description...?"

"E-Eh?"

"I am saying if you don't have a more detailled description about that child who apparently pulled out my sword."

"H-However, the possibility of it being a mistake is quite high and…"

"Just tell me, you received informations about at least a physical description of the said child… didn't you?"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Even though he just answered by reflex out of panic, in truth the man didn't remembered much about it (maybe there was one?), but also how the fact that he panicked made him forget most of it.

Gilthunder didn't seemed to care about as he kept on staring at the soldier while waiting for his response.

_'I-It's bad! If I don't answer quickly, I'll be killed…?!'_ The soldier felt like crying upon seeing Gilthunder staring at him like a predator at his prey, and then he tried his hardest to say out what he seemed to remember.

"I-It's seems to be a child that looks still in the early teens…"

"I see."

"With blonde hair, and green eye(s?)... and also defeated Apprentice Holy Knight Twigo with ease..."

"..."

_'As expected, is it Meliodas?'_ Gilthunder thought back at the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins who often trained him in swordsmanship during his childhood, the description seems to fits him perfectly, and he could perfectly believe him to be able to pull his sword out with ease. But just when he was about to dismiss the soldier, the latter brought another fatal new that would turn his whole world over…

"And moreover, it was a girl!"

_'I see, a girl… Wait, what?!'_ The cold mask that Gilthunder had perfected over those last 10 years has almost broke with that single statement that he was close to lost his poker face in a really ridiculous manner.

The man of course, only said what he could barely remember (with him forgetting the most important details due to his panic) thus forgot to mention that there wasn't only one but technically two persons who dealt with the matter in the Bernia Village (though Trista was really the one who pulled out the sword, it seems that details about her and Meliodas were being mixed together by error).

And unfortunately, he didn't realized the impact of his words would have on the Holy Knight.

Despite doing all he can to maintain a poker face, Gilthunder's mind was thrown in overpanic. _'Wait, wait, wait, wait! Could it be that I was mistaken? That it wasn't Meliodas? But for a "child" to be able to pull out the sword that I planted there, and the only one with a childish appearance yet possess the strength of a Holy Knight is Meliodas only! Then… could it be…'_

Then the idea of the possible worst outcome appeared in Gilthunder's mind…

Could it be…

No, it couldn't be possible, right…?

But still…

Even if the Seven Deadly Sins had to go into hiding because they were labelled as criminals, there was no need to go that far, right…? Right?!

What if… what if Meliodas was forced to travesty himself in order to hide himself? His childhood hero… being forced to throw away his manly pride and dress up like a woman_… _and the one responsible for it was actually the Kingdom for which he was working for?!

_'No, no! Calm yourself down immediately, me!'_ Gilthunder held back the sudden urge to punch himself in order to not make himself looks suspicious.

There was indeed still a possibility that the person may not be Meliodas, but if it was so can he feel relieved about it? If it was someone else, there was no telling that they would be able to help him and Margaret.

But if it was indeed Meliodas…

Wait a second, just how can he confirm that it was Meliodas or not in first place? Should he throw a spear towards Bernia Village filled with magic power? If the spear would come back to him, then it would surely be the doing of Meliodas' magic move, **Full Counter**… but if it doesn't then he may have destroyed the whole village just because of some error… He already caused enough trouble to this village already just in order to keep up with the appearances, and if possible he didn't wanted to do any more than this, but…

_'H-However if it's truly Meliodas, and he were to throw me back the spear, and that he was truly dressed up as a woman then…'_ Then how should he even face him?! Should he throw the spear, or not?! Should he even go face him, or not?! He somehow felt that it was a sight he was never going to recover from. And more than anything, for some reasons no other options were coming to his mind!

"_Impossible... Uncomprehensible_..."

_'Gilthunder-sama... As expected, he doesn't seems to believe it either.'_ The soldier thought so as he watched Gilthunder suddenly putting his hand against his face in a shaky manner. However what the soldier expected was that Gilthunder refused to admit that a child managed to pull the sword he planted due to a Holy Knight's pride, blessfully unaware of the latter's internal struggle.

It took the two next hours for Gilthunder to make his mind up and throw this spear, full of mixed feelings between hope and despair (or maybe fear) in a whole different way, praying for Meliodas to catch the spear but at the same time to not throw it back to him. No need to say that when he received the spear back, Gilthunder who was still under that unexplained misunderstanding, feel not only a bit relieved but also very frightened over what sight he may see upon meeting Meliodas again.

* * *

"To the Boar Hat's mini-bar owner Meliodas and his freeloader lazy-bum Trista who saved our village, cheers!"

"CHEEEEEEEEERS!"

When evening arrived, the Bernia villagers came to celebrate the return of their underground spring and also to cheer at their saviors. They all filled the wooden mugs with their pride, freshly-made Bernia ale as they raised their cups together as they cheered in unison before chugging the whole thing down and sighs in delight. A joyous atmosphere was filling the hall of the Boar Hat.

"...Triss, what about this 'mini-bar owner'?"

"I should be the one who ask about this 'freeloader lazy-bum'."

"Is that so? I thought that it was perfectly fitting."

"So you were the one who gave their this idea? ...Well you aren't partially wrong."

"Then why were you unsatisfied?"

"I only approved the 'freeloader' part. The rest was unneeded."

"...You really focus about that of all things, huh?" Meliodas sighed at the antics of the girl in front of him, who semeed to always care for the most unexpected part of the talk,before turning to Elizabeth who was fidgetting behind him. "So, Elizabeth, you ready?"

Suddenly hearing her name being called, the princess jolted a bit in response before placing the tray in her hand while her other hand was cupping her reddening cheeks as she murmured in a flustered manner, "Ca-Can I really do this…? It's my first time doing something like this, so… my heart is pounding…"

"I see, I see… It's your first time. Say it one more time? Once more." Meliodas pressed as for some reason he was seriously intruding Elizabeth's private space and for some reason it seemed as if flowers could be seen flying around him even though his expression didn't changed much. Elizabeth could just stare downward with a more bashful expression for some reasons as she was still restless.

"What are you getting all existed for?" Hawk murmured as he sweatdropped, and Meliodas was even blowing air from his nose as if he was some kind of bull.

Trista then turned to Elizabeth while retorting, "Besides why are you using such confusing words just for waitressing?"

"Eh? Well…"

"Being a waitress will be fine once you get used to it." Meliodas explained as he leaned his elbow on the bar counter.

Elizabeth gasped in understanding as she nodded with determination, "I understand! The most important thing is to gather informations about the Seven Deadly Sins, after all."

"Info on ther whereabouts of the Holy Knights would be fine, too. Even if they're not direclty related, it could be a lead." Meliodas' serious expression then turned into one of his usual nonchalant smile, "...That's it for the serious talk. Take it easy now."

"Y-Yes...! I will take it easy!" Elizabeth answered, maybe a little too loud in order to take it 'easy' as she went to quickly answer the demands of the customers who had been calling for her.

The three others could only looks at her blankly before turning their gazes to each other.

"...Say, do you think that THAT is 'taking it easy'."

"I don't think so."

"She's taking it too seriously for her own good…"

And the three nodded in unison when their opinions happened to match with each other. Then Meliodas turned to Trista and asked her, "But Triss, you sure that you just want to wash the dishes?"

"Well, even I am not lazy enough to try to skip work at such a time, I can at least do that, right?"

"Well I don't mind, but what I'm asking is that why do you want to do the dishes? Wouldn't it be better for you to be a waitress like Elizabeth? Or at least try to follow her through the work since you don't seems to be as clumsy... Besides, the villagers are also here to come see you and thank you too, wouldn't it be better for you to go at least interact with them for a it?"

"They are a bit too overwhelming for me, besides shouldn't this apply for you too?"

"Hm... It isn't false."

"And besides, waitressing in those clothes would be difficult." Her words caused the two others to looks at the clothes she was currently wearing.

Having taken off the dark cape she usually wore over her clothes, her attire was the same than the one she wore when she met Elizabeth in her library. It was a very expensive-looking doll-like attire or at least seemed to belong to be a noble lady's dress, it didn't fit with the commoner atmosphere of the bar. Besides even if Trista wasn't clumsy like Elizabeth, it wouldn't be surprising for her to trip on herself due to her long skirt that literally reached the floor.

"If it's just that then I can lend you a waitress uniform you know?"

"The problem is unfortunately not about that."

"Then what is wrong with it?" Both Meliodas and Hawk asked but Trista just shook her head silently and only muttered a single answer: "The curse of the Devil."

"...What?"

"And what the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"I refuse to explain any further than this."

""..."" Both Hawk and Meliodas looked at each other in confusion, even if they were to press for an answer, it seemed that Trista was obstinate to not answer no matter what. Why on earth was she such a blockhead about that…?

***BOMP! PAM! CRASH! SPLASCH!***

"K-Kyaaa...?! I-I am so sorry!"

"..."

"..."

"..." After hearing a loud crash along with the sound of wet splasches and plates breaking together with the frantic and panicked apologies of a certain clumsy princess that tried her hardest to work as a waitress... well maybe that she was trying too hard, and this is why she was struggling. While watching this scene unfold right in front of their eyes, the three's reactions were...

"...Say Meliodas..." Trista asked absentmindedly, her eyes still glued on Elizabeth's form who was keep on apologizing to the customers who were smiling wryly at her clumsiness, their faces covered with the things they have ordered earlier.

Meliodas answered in the same way, his eyes keep on staring forward without even turning to look at her. "...What is it, Triss?"

"During these few last years, was there a custom to serve the customers by throwing their foods at their faces?"

"I don't think so, or at least, my bar isn't that type of sado-maso store..."

"I see..."

"Wait, wait! Just how on earth did you guys interpreted this scene!" Hawk was tapping his hoof in a repetitive manner on the floor as he demanded that angrily.

All he could see, him, was the results of an unfortunate clumsiness that came from an innocent and hard-working princess who never had such dirty intentions, or whatever they are insinuating! And yet how dare they...! In normal time, he would have immediately slammed his body into Melodas for a heavy body blow into the latter's body, but it would surely distract Elizabeth further and raise the number of broken plates... So he would save it for later on, yeah!

***Cransh!***

"Aaah! I am so sorry!"

...Oh, another broken plate today.

"...Say, Meliodas."

"What again?"

"...Do you want to try and bet on how much plates she would break today?"

"...Fine, if I lose I'll buy you something's nice and sweet to eat."

"Deal, don't you dare to forget it."

"Sure, but for now let's decide about a number and..."

"Are you guys heartless?!"

Of course it was just a joke, but because of Hawk's overnagging, the bet was called off. There was no need to mention that they helped all together to clean after Elizabeth's mistakes.

* * *

_'I know that as a princess who had been living a sheltered life up until now, it's understandable that she has an hard time to adjust so suddenly at working. But to think that she would possess the accuracy of perfectly slamming the full content of each plate into the customer's face… Though she surely isn't doing on purpose, it's still impressive in a lot of ways. But since it's only due to her clumsiness, I guess it can't be controlled, huh…'_

So were the current thoughts of the doll-like girl as she washed the few number of plates before cleaning them dry with a cloth and turning around. In the trashcan were the numerous broken shards of the plates Elizabeth had broken today, so much that they stopped even to count how many there were in it. It seems that the first task in tomorrow morning was to go buy more plates to replace all the ones that had been lost today.

_'Rest in peace…'_ Trista put her hands together in a praying manner and directed it towards the trash can, where the 'deceased' are currently laying into, hoping for them to have a better fate in their next life. It can be considered as a bit too dramatic but there was no one here to comment on that so it was fine.

In the end, it was just her and Hawk who worked at the bar. Despite being told that everything was alright by not only the customers but also Meliodas who was trying to reassure her, Elizabeth still felt ashamed over her mistakes today and decided to take a breather outside in order to calm down. It was not long after that Meliodas went after her even though he just said that she should have some time alone.

"Oi, Trista!"

Suddenly having her name being called by the pig, Trista raised her head and asked back, "What is it, Piglet?"

"Pugo! Didn't I told you already thousand times that my name was Hawk?!"

"I know, I just don't feel like calling you by your name yet, besides you still answered so it means that you are aware that I was talking about you, right? So there is no problem about it."

"Pugyaa! You are really annoying, you know?!" The pig puffed up with anger, his pink skin could almost be seen as turning red around his head as if he was boiling like a kettle.

"So, what did you wanted to do in the end?"

"Seriously… Well anyway, there's a visitor for you!"

"...A visitor?" Trista raised an eyebrow before seeing Hawk looking behind him, she followed the direction he was pointing towards and saw the one that it was a person, a very small person… well to be more precise, a child. Yes, the boy from this morning.

"If I remember well your name is…" Trista tried to remember among her earlier memories of the day, it took her a bit of time to remember a stranger properly, but then she remembered the fact that this boy's name was related to something easy to remember, like food or a drink… Ah, that's it!

"Your name is Mead, right?"

"Y-Yeah! So you remembered?"

"Yes."

_'To name one of the child of their village after a type of alcohol. I know that they are strongly dedicated to their work and it's great for a village full of ale-makers, but aren't they going a bit too far in there?'_

"Say, lady…"

"Ah… Yes, what is it?" It seemed that she ended up being immersed in her own thoughts so she didn't heard what the boy just said, but it seems that she didn't missed much of the talk.

"Do you know where the blond guy and that silver-haired lady are...? I can't see them anywhere in there." Mead asked as he looked around him, but unfortunately he didn't saw the persons he was looking for.

"Hm… If you looking for those two, they just left earlier, you just missed them, quite a bad timing."

"I see…" Mead looked down with a slightly disappointed expression.

"However if you have some business with them, I can inform them when they will return."

"Ah, but since you're here and all, well, that is…"

"...?"

For some reasons, it seems that Mead was struggling over what to say, he was always looking down and his cheeks seems to redden a bit, behind him there was an old lady who seemed to be one of the villager of Bernia Village, who kindly pushed his back with a kind smile (similar to how Meliodas pushed him forward to his adopted family earlier in the day).

Mead then looked back to her and when she nodded in an encouraging manner. ...It seems that an unknown message was passed between them when Mead nodded at his turn before taking a large step forward in front of Trista.

"What is it?" She asked one more time.

Mead then looked up to her before taking out what he seemed to be hiding behind his back and pushing it to her face in a really high speed, "Here!" He said.

"..." Trista then took one step back during the moment, not because she was wary of the child's attention, but rather because the thing almost hit her eye with the closeness he used to push it forward.

Taking a step back and then looking carefully at it, it seemed to be a quite large bottle. Of what, that was a mystery… but there was a faint smell of her favorite in it, that was for sure, there was no way she could mistake that smell alone.

_'But still, I guess it would be better to still ask.'_ Even if she can recognize the content of that bottle, she can't recognize the intention behind the action that Mead was trying to do. "So, this is…?"

"Alcohol!"

"...Sure? But such a thing, all of the sudden?"

"Well I tried my hardest with everyone in the village, okay the majority were all the children together so we couldn't make something like Bernia ale, so…!"

"I was asking you the reason, not the content."

"...!" Upon hearing her, Mead acted like an actor who forgot the lines he should say in the middle of his interpretation in front of an audience and started to panic again.

Seeing this, the old lady sighed before placing her hands on Mead's shoulders and then told Trista in a slightly apologetic voice despite the smile on her face, "I'm sorry. Even though this child tried to practice how to speak to you guys for one hour already, it seems that when he's facing the real thing, he end up losing all his confidence."

"Heh…"

"Wha?! Wait, Granny, what the heck are you saying?!"

However the grandma just ignored Mead as she continued, "He tried his hardest in order to repay the three of you for helping the village. If it isn't too much to ask, would you accept it?"

"...I see, so that's how it is." Trista nodded in acknowledgement. "If so, then I would gladly accept, I am sure that the other two would say the same." Thus she extended her hands to take the bottle.

Mead brightened as he grinned at that before putting a proud hand on his chest, "Of course! It would originally be wasted on people like you guys, but since this Mead-sama worked hard, accept it with gratitude!"

"Oh, is that so? If it is wasted on us then I don't think we should accept it on afterthought." And thus the bottle was pushed back to Mead.

"No, no, no! I was joking, it's a lie! I'm sorry so please don't accept it and enjoy it together! C'mon!"

"You sure took back your words really quickly, didn't you?" Trista commented with dry humor as she looked at Mead, who was back at his panicked state and lost all of his earlier confidence. What on earth happened to this proud and spoiled child? For him to turn so shy and meek in less than half a day.

"Geez, and it was going so well, why are you ruining everything again with your bad habits?" The grandma shook her head in exasperation as she sighed, putting a hand on her head as if it was to prepare against an oncoming headache. "However it can't be helped, though he has the will to change, unfortunately it isn't something that can happen in one evening, if you can just settle this aside and accept it…"

"Granny?!"

"Of course, besides it was just a joke."

"It didn't sounded like one at all though?!"

"You are starting to sound like that Piglet… and talking about him, where is he?" Trista looked around her, noticing that she hasn't seen or heard of the pig for quite a while already. Did he left when she wasn't looking? If it was so then that consideration was unneeded.

The kid then seemed to look at her, waiting for her to say something. But…

_'In such times… what should I say, again?'_ It was during such times that she wished that someone else could take her place in this situation. Unfortunately both Meliodas and Elizabeth were absent, and Hawk surely left to rejoint them, so she had no choice but to take care of this matter herself. So if it were either of them in her situation, then they would probably react like this…?

"...Thank you, I will make sure that the three of us enjoy it carefully together." Was it right? Did she do it right? She wondered so but soon got her answer when Mead grinned wider after and nodded with energy. It was just right after that that the two left, apparently Mead had already crossed far beyond the hour when the children are supposed to sleep at, but for someone who was supposed to be sleepy at this hour, he sure waved back at her overflowing with energy as he left.

_'...Well since that the Piglet also decided to skip off work, I guess I have to do all the cleaning by myself, huh…?'_ Trista sighed as she took another cloth to wipe the tables now. The dishes were done with the clean plates put back into their respective places. All the customers left earlier and even paid despite the fact that they could use some excuses to avoid to do so, such honest people they are…

**…?!**

"...!" Trista widened her eyes as she felt an oncoming magic power getting closer to Bernia Village, the feeling it gave was similar to the one in the sword, so something related to lightning.

The tables, chairs and grounds started to trembles in response, yet none of the bottles of ales were falling and crashing on the ground, it was kind of mysterious.

**…!**

Even though Trista remained calm and immobile, her shadow started to move on its own, changing of shape and started to raise upward from the ground, something dark was trying to come out from it while a certain bestial-like growl could be heard, two luminous eyes were the only thing that could be seen from that black-like mass. And…

***Tap!***

With a single sound and fluid motion, without even looking at the thing that was forming itself behind her, Trista tapped on the ground with her foot once, as if it was to step on the shadow and then said in a voice filled with authority, "Go back inside, nothing is wrong here."

The shadow stayed still for a moment, even though he could disobey her, even though he could attack her while she wasn't looking, it still obediently did as she said and return to his place in the ground, the shadow of the girl that was distorted return to one that fits her appearance.

The girl then resumed back to work, as if nothing just happened here.

* * *

"Yo, Triss, we're back!"

"Sorry for the wait, Trista-san!"

A little after, Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk (so he was truly with them, huh?) came back, Meliodas' sleeve was burnt and his hand was bleeding. Elizabeth and Hawk at his sides were unhurt, he probably covered for them.

"It's fine, but since I did everything alone here, so I hope for a permission to skip the next day's worth of work."

Meliodas frowned a bit upon seeing her indifference, "Oi, oi, oi. Is that all you're going to say? Not going to ask anything. And while I know that you aren't wrong but seriously, just how lazy can you be?"

"Since I worked non-stop all my life, I thought that I should take a break when I can still can."

"Hm? What is that supposed to mean anyway?"

"Nothing that you should care about, but still leave me some breaks, okay?"

Meliodas sighed before ruffling his hair in a messy manner as a show of exasperation, "...You know that you aren't making any sense?"

"It's better in this way." Trista refused to explain herself further as she instead asked, "So, any news?"

"And now you're trying to avoid the subject?"

Seeing how Meliodas and Trista's conversation were going to, Elizabeth started to look back and forth between the two in slight worry. Noticing this, Meliodas sighed before deciding to drop the subject for her sake, "But to answer your question, it's a 'yeah'. We're heading towards the Forest of White Dreams next. Apparently there is a possibility for one of the Sin to hide in there."

"The Forest of White Dreams, huh…? It's not that 'there is a possibility', but isn't one of the Sin really hiding in there?"

"Heh? For example, who?"

"Serpent's Sin of Envy, Diane."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What?" All of them were suddenly silent and were looking at her weirdly, and it did made her slightly uncomfortable under those intense gazes.

Meliodas then asked, his expression still indifferent. "...And why do you know such a thing?"

"Well I did my own researches those 10 last years. Though I am not sure of wherever it is accurate or not, the most recent information was that Serpent's Sin Diane was at the Forest of the White Dreams."

"Ah! I remember!" Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed as she slammed her fist into her palm in realization, "Trista-san said that she had some knowledge over the possible location of the Seven Deadly Sins!"

"Ooh, isn't that great?" Hawk and Elizabeth then smiled to each other in relief, and so did Meliodas… though his smile couldn't be considered as a likeable one as he started to walk towards Trista and then while still smiling…

"Then? Why didn't you said that earlier?"

"Well you said that going to Bernia Village was an emergency so I thought that I could leave that to later…" And also the fact that she accidentally forgot it, it would probably be something she shouldn't say.

But it seems that Meliodas wasn't satisfied by such an answer despite the perpetual smile on his face…

"...Meliodas?"

"What is it, Triss?"

"Are you perhaps… angry?"

"No, I'm not, why should I be?"

"Well…"

Without even waiting for her to answer back, Meliodas walked to the kitchen before coming back with something in his hand. Something that is very familiar to Trista and Elizabeth.

Trista widened her eyes as Elizabeth just tilted her head on the side upon seeing the metal box, "Isn't this the cocoa powder that I have offered to Trista-san this morning? What are you going to do with this Meliodas-sama?"

Upon hearing this question, Meliodas' grinned as suddenly his voice turned really joyous, "Oh, that? It's quite simple Elizabeth…" And then he turned towards Trista, still smiling.

The latter looked at him in confusion before she gasped dramatically with realization, "Don't tell me, you…!"

Meliodas' grin widened further upon knowing that his intentions had been understood (both Hawk and Elizabeth didn't seemed to have notice it) and he said, with the most benevolent voice he could use in such a situation while his smile was shining, "Yeah. I'm confiscating this."

"...!" It seemed as if thunder just struck down Trista as for an instant, she seemed to turn colorless.

Meliodas nodded to himself, satisfied, as he turned around and was preparing to walk away with the box still in hand. This snapped Trista out of her temporary trance as she quickly ran after him, "So you ARE angry after all?!"

"Nope, I'm not~ Just feeling like doing this, on a whim, y'know, a whim~"

"As if! W-Wait a second, we can still talk about it, let's discuss a little first, okay?"

"Hohoh~ It's the first time I've ever heard you stutter."

"Wait, I'm telling you to wait, geez!"

"..."

"..." Both Hawk and Elizabeth looked at the scene, shocked over the situation they were currently watching, before they turned to each other. To think that the usually composed Trista would panic over something so small, besides Meliodas seems to greatly enjoy to get it back at her. In the end, even she didn't escaped the collectif punishment. Elizabeth made a wry smile while Hawk sighed in desperation. It seemed that it was going to be a long night...

* * *

**A/N.: Thus I added the first extra story of the manga version here (it is present in the OVA of the anime version), apparently it was really situated around this moment chronologically. I will eventually write my own side stories, I hope that you will like them, probably one every 10 chapters!**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 4: **_"I love it!"

_**My answer:**_ I'm glad then~

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 4: **_"Pretty interesting chapter, Trista is definitly sassy even for the standard of this manga. Curious to see if Hawk and Elizabeth will unlock earlier their power, good work."

_**A.:**_ She is just that kind of person, well there is reasons for it, but still! I'm glad that you weren't turned off by her personality! And for Elizabeth and Hawk... please wait and see!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 4: **_"thank you for introducing my fanfic here!? I'd love to read what will happen next chapter. Also, I love the part about the sweeth tooth and how Trista scolding Mead. I admit I'm rather sadistic oops"

**_A.:_** Your welcome! Since you did the same for me, I should at least do the same for you! I hope that you will like the next chapter too! And personally I'm a tragedy maniac so...


	6. Forest of White Dreams Arc - II

**A/N.: Hello everyone. Firstly I would give a personal thanks to the group of three readers (so _fantasy.92, merrendinoemiliano and Maya Yoan_) who have the kindness to review at each new chapter of each update! I would like for some other readers to do the same if possible... And also, I don't think that I'll be able to update much because I'm busy with my studies right now but I'll try to do it as much when I can so please don't give up on my story!**

* * *

**FOREST OF WHITE DREAMS ARC - II : _The Sin in the Sleeping Forest_**

* * *

Having learned that the Forest of White Dreams is avoided by even Holy Knights due to the danger it poses, during the celebration in Bernia from Mead, plus with an additional confirmation from Trista, the four (Meliodas, Elizabeth, Hawk and Trista) decided to travel there. However...

"We've been walking in this forest for nearly 3 hours... and still haven't seen a single animal, let alone a person." Elizabeth commented as she looked around her, her forehead slightly sweating, while her hand was holding a tree branch in order to help her as a support to push her feets forwards. Meliodas was following closely behind her while Hawk was near her sides as he puffed some air from his nostrils, "Pugo, pugo! All I see is tree after tree in this fog... If I see another tree, I'll scream!"

Indeed as he said, they have completely lost their sense of direction due to the forest's thick fog that was covering the majority of their surroundings to the point that if they separate from each other of a single meter, they wouldn't be able to repere the other at all. The air also felt damp and a little suffocating, to the point of being able to put all noise to silence.

Elizabeth then turned to Meliodas behind her, "Meliodas-sama, are you sure that one of the Seven Deadly Sins is hiding in this forest?"

Meliodas just answered with a nonchalant face, "Maybe."

This time, it was Hawk who turned around in irritation, "You mean we came here without any solid evidence?!"

"Well, it's more or less what Triss confirmed." Meliodas said as he put his hands behind his head, still not caring about the pig losing his calm.

"And, um, talking about Trista-san..." Elizabeth then looked further behind Meliodas with a slight worried look on her face, both Meliodas and Hawk followed the direction of her gaze, only to see a gloomy Trista trailing behind them in a lifeless manner. Well, actually her facial expression is unchanging, the usual pokerface, but her eyes were hollow and empty, filled with despair and more than anything, the air around her was dark, with dark blue wavy lines of gloominess. The whiter the fog around them seemed, the darker the air around Trista was shown. It was as if she just went through Hell and barely survived.

Meliodas scratched his head, looking a bit troubled as he took out a shining silver box from his pants' pocket, on it were written the following letters: C, O, C, O, A... Yes, it forms the word 'COCOA', which is the thing he confiscated from the heterochromia girl just the last evening. ...And the main reason of why she was like that currently.

"I took it as an hostage just in case, but I never expected it to work so well..."

"Meliodas-sama, I think that you are overdoing it a little, it's the first time that I have ever seen Trista-san that depressed..."

"Oi, oi, you think he just only 'a little' overdoing it, you?" Hawk commented on the side with half-lidded eyes staring at Elizabeth who was still worried about Trista's current mindstate while Meliodas him, just whistled nonchalantly.

"I never seen her in such a state either, but well, if I knew it would be that easy, I would have done that way, way, way earlier!" Meliodas grinned mischeviously as he took the box in hand and extended it in front of Trista.

"...!" The latter suddenly started to shine with vitality as the black air around her turned into a bright light, it seemed that thanks to this, she felt better in a blink of an eye. But then Meliodas retracted his hand back, and...

"..." And then the air turned gloomy again, everything was back to the way it was before.

"Hmm..." Meliodas hummed in thought before extending his hand again, and then suddenly it was back to shiny, before retracting his hand, and now it was back to gloomy. He repeated the act over and again for a few times, obtaining the same reactions as result. And after a while...

"If I knew of that earlier, I would have done this way earlier!" He re-affirmed, this time his smile more large as if he were having fun right now, "It's like switching the lights on and off, it can become an habit!"

"Geez, Meliodas-sama!"

"Haha, okay, okay, I'll stop so don't get angry Elizabeth, okay?" Even though he was just scolded, his smile was still on his face and he didn't seemed to have reflected on his actions at all. But at least he stopped doing that and then put back the box in his pocket, "But I'm still keeping that, otherwise Triss wouldn't even follow us around. This would make her do some exercise and stop lazing around back at the bar."

"You guys sure are easy-going, huh? And to think that I've heard rumors that scary monsters live in these woods..." Hawk started to shake in fear as he realized the situation they were back at, which he temporarily forgot due to Meliodas playing around, and then...

"EEEEEEK!" A scream.

"What's wrong?!" Hawk quickly turned back to Elizabeth who was the one who screamed, fearing the worst that could happen.

Elizabeth squirmed in a mix of fear and disgust as she barely had the courage to open her eyes and muttered out, "S-Something is... touching my butt..."

But surprisingly the one who answered, was...!

"Oh, don't worry. It's just me." So Meliodas naturally said as he was touching Elizabeth's behind under her skirt.

...Okay, this wasn't surprising at all. And perhaps it was because of that, Elizabeth sighed in relief as she used her forearm to wipe off some sweat present on her forehead, "Oh, that's a relief. I was scared for a second there..."

"That should NOT be a relief!" Hawk retorted, a throbbing red vein on his pink skin. Okay he can understand that she is relieved to be touched by something she knows instead of something's totally unknown, but still! She was so relieved that she didn't even seems to voice her discomfort anymore.

Meliodas then let his hand go from Elizabeth's behind as he started to walk forward, past the princess besides him, as he said. "Well putting that aside..."

"You're letting that slide?!"

Meliodas ignored the pig's retort as he explained the answer to the previous question that was almost left forgotten, "I may not have solid evidence, but I have a hunch. This Forest of White Dreams is enveloped in a thick fog all year round. It's hard to ravel through it on horseback, and easy to lose your way. Even hutners and wayfarers who are used to traveling avoid it."

"Oh, I see! Indeed it's the perfect place if you want to hide!" Elizabeth smiled as she managed to understood the meaning of his words but then her smile disappeared as she felt something strange. At the beginning she didn't understood what it was, but then it started to feel uncomfortable and slightly breezy down there, as if, as if...

"Huh? Umm...? Huh?" As she started to to touch over the back side her skirt and then widened her eyes in shock, _'Th-They're gone! No way!'_

"What's wrong?" Hawk asked since she suddenly stopped, even Meliodas was looking, while Trista... well, she was still suffering from some lack of sweet things.

"Ah! W-Well, it's nothing!" She answered with a shaking smile while still holding her behind covered carefully with the skirt with her two hands. Much to her relief, the two didn't seemed to care much about it and just continued to walk without asking anything.

Elizabeth walked slowly at her turn as thousand of thoughts were running through her head. _'This can't be happening! No, you need to calm down and think this through, Elizabeth. I'm sure I put them on in the morning when I woke up. In the bathroom? No. There's no way I would've forgotten them in such a place!'_

**…**

_'They're really gone!'_ Elizabeth exclaimed in panic inside her mind before lowering herself physically, hoping that she wouldn't get seen by anybody. However she has forgotten that there was another person behind her besides of the two who were in front of her.

"...Elizabeth? What on earth are you doing? And that curious way of walking… are you perhaps tired or hurt?"

Unfortunately! ...Or perhaps it was rather fortunate, the one who saw her acting so was none other than Trista (it seems that the strange sight of Elizabeth made her recover from her depression).

_'That's right! Although it's a bit embarrassing, if it is someone of the same gender like Trista-san, then maybe she could help me out with this situation.'_ With that in thought, Elizabeth moved discreetly towards Trista much to the latter's confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Um… Actually…" And then she whispered what happened in Trista's ear and…

"What?! Your panti…"

"AH! P-Please stay quiet!" Before Trista let the cat out of the bag, Elizabeth immediately covered Trista's mouth with both her hands. However she was a little too loud, and this attracted the attention of both Hawk and Meliodas again.

"Oi, Elizabeth-chan, you sure you alright?"

"Y-Yes! Don't worry about me, Hawk-chan!"

"What is it, what is it?" Meliodas stepped forward with the intention to go towards them.

Seeing this, Elizabeth quickly shook her hands with her cheeks burning with embarrassment, "N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" If it was him of all people who would come to learn that, Elizabeth would never be able to live it through.

The fact that he seemed to have accepted her response without misunderstanding anything made Elizabeth sighs in relief. She then whispered to Trista, "Please stay quiet about this, okay?"

Trista just nodded twice before saying back, "So you aren't wearing any right now?"

Elizabeth blushed redder before giving a shaky nod.

Trista then seemed to be quite thoughtful before she answered with a sigh, "Okay, I understand."

Elizabeth looked slightly hopeful at that, did it meant that she has a clue on where her lost piece of underwear was currently?

"It's alright. I'm not one who would judge people by their habits."

...Huh?

"They says that everyone have their own preferences, and it can all differs from each others."

...Wait a second, wasn't there some kind of misunderstanding?

"From what I heard, the Fairy Clan is doing the same, so there's no reason to worry."

...For some reason just like Meliodas and Trista yesterday, Elizabeth felt that they were not on the same page like she hoped to. But before Elizabeth could ask any of these…

"If you feel more comfortable at not wear anything under, then you should just do as you wish." And with those last words, Trista didn't realized the bomb she dropped. Elizabeth did however. And during that time, Trista realized with faint amusement.

_'Wow… It's actually possible for the human body to get that red, huh…'_ It wasn't in the level of dark pink anymore, it was literally a red tomato or apple.

Elizabeth, her, could only grew red like that upon realizing what kind of misunderstanding Trista was having about her. Okay, maybe she was in the wrong for not having explained further due to her embarrassment but still… How? Just how…

_'Just how did things escalated to such an extend~?!'_ Elizabeth felt like screaming that but managed to hold all of this back as she swallowed the words that were about to come out, down back into her throat. But more than anything, the first thing she needs to do more than anything right now, is…!

"...Huh? A misunderstanding?" Trista raised an eyebrow at this.

...Yes, the thing that she needed to do more than anything right now, was to clear up that misunderstanding!

"You know, there's no need to be shy about it, though it was still a bit unexpected from you."

"Like I said, it's a misunderstanding Trista-san!"

And moreover she wasn't believing her at all! Of course she know that she wasn't acting as convincing that she wished to, but still… it seems that her hopes from earlier were mistaken.

"Meliodas wouldn't hate you for that you know? Or rather, I think he would be surprisingly pleased. Besides he's probably the same as you, about not wearing anything down there…"

"M-Me, being the same as Meliodas-sama…?" Elizabeth then quickly shook her head as Trista's words were now properly registered into her mind, "No, wait, rather! How do you know such a thing in the first place?! Is that true?!"

"Well I don't really know if it is true or not, but I remember him having said that he didn't understood the point about it and…"

"I-It's fine! I don't need to know anymore than that!" Before she could say anything further, Elizabeth quickly silenced her. She felt embarrassed enough like this but any more and she felt that she would intrude Meliodas' privacy. Of course even after hearing this her opinion of him didn't changed at all, but she wasn't ready yet to hear any more than this.

_'Or rather, to even know such things about Meliodas-sama... As expected, Trista-san must be quite close to him, huh...?'_ But still, even if it's really great that they are close like this, wouldn't there at least be some matter that you wouldn't discuss with the other no matter how well you get along together, right?!

"So you are saying that you were wearing it but it suddenly disappear before you realized it?"

"Y-Yes, it's that!" Thankfully they finally managed to reach a point of understanding together!

"But how on earth..." Trista put a hand on her chin before humming in a thoughtful manner, "If it has just slipped down then you would definitively have felt it."

"I-Indeed." The princess too agreed on this statement. Even Elizabeth was not a klutz to such an extend, besides even she didn't wanted to admit herself but if such a thing were to happen, her clumsiness would definitively make her trip on it.

Trista then looked forward before seeing Meliodas' back a little more faraway and then widened her eyes before frowning slightly, "No way, don't tell me..."

"Eh?" Elizabeth made in confusion before following her gaze with her eyes landing on Meliodas' back too as she asked hesitantly, "Could it be that you think that Meliodas-sama is the culprit? ...No way, even he wouldn't go that far... would he?" Even though Elizabeth had originally the intention of denying Trista's assumption and defend Meliodas' honor, she found herself having an hard time doing so. After all after being the victim of many of Meliodas' sexual harrassment during the last few days made her think that it was possible for him to do that after all. But still it would be irrespectuful to think of him like this. ...Though it's still possible for him to have really did that.

"However it is quite possible for him to have done that." Trista voiced her opinion matching with Elizabeth's openly before adding with conviction, "After all, he took away my cocoa too!"

"..." Elizabeth stayed dumbfounded for a few seconds before breaking into a nervous and wry smile, "W-Well, I don't think that the two can be considered to be on the same case... and moreover yours was confiscated, not stolen..."

"Still he took away something important to me! ...And probably also yours too!"

"T-Though I consider it as important in a way, I wouldn't go as far..." Elizabeth sweatdropped slightly at Trista's dramatic act, okay underwear was something important but certainly not to act as if you would die if you don't have it. So Elizabeth couldn't help but find that Trista was overreacting over some cocoa, still that childishness was surprising from the original opinion of the unapproacheable 'Witch' that Elizabeth thought her to be at the beginning. But also this side of her made her looks more normal despite her curious common sense, it mades Elizabeth smiles slightly.

"Come on, guys! If we dilly daily, the monsters will be on us in no time!" It was Hawk who cut their discussion off in impatience, his voice filled with a mix of annoyance and fear. It seems that he was still afraid of what could appear in their surroundings since they weren't moving for a while already.

When Elizabeth was about to apologize to her pig friend for the wait, but Meliodas passed before her with a smile on his face, "Chill down, will you? Nobody likes an uptight piglet."

"""...?""" But then Meliodas raised an eyebrow, Trista frowned and Elizabeth widened her eyes as they all looked at Hawk. The pig, however, didn't seemed to have noticed what was wrong and answered Meliodas' provocation with his usual attitude...

"""""Who are you callling uptight?!"""""

...And for some reason, it was more than one him that answered. Hawk then finally realized that something was wrong and turned around to see... many HIMS around himself. This was what the three others were looking in shock. "...Huh? There's a lot of me?" The first one in the center said, and...

"I'm everywhere?!"

"A lot of me!"

"What's going on?!"

...And all the others followed at their turns, with their all reactions all similar, if not exactly the same.

Elizabeth held a hand at her mouth as she gasped in shock, "A-Are these the forest monsters he talked about?!"

"One is already enough but now we have to deal with all of them?" Trista sighed in annoyance as she facepalmed herself.

Meliodas just rubbed the back of his head as he said, "This is completely out of hand..."

And then all the pigs suddennly came down from the hill and charged towards them all running together in perfect sync. All of the shapes to the color and actions but not only his physical appearance, even the pig's attitude and his mannerisms were perfectly represented as the same, to the point of not being able to recognize the real one among them anymore.

"Meliodas! I'm telling you that I'm the real one!"

"What?! You fake!"

"Shut up, pig!"

"Meliodas, please! Do something!"

"..." And upon facing all those demands from the differents pigs, Meliodas stood with a straight face, and...

***Bimp, Bump, Boum!***

Meliodas patted his hands clean with his expression unchanging while watching the bunch of unconscious pigs on the ground, covered with bumps from his punchs, all of them were K.O., and with the real Hawk among them. It was simple; since he couldn't tell which one was the real one, he decided to beat all of them up to be more sure about it. Besides hitting Hawk isn't a first so it should be fine, so Meliodas thought. Of course, it wasn't fine at all.

"You sure didn't went easy on them, huh?" Trista commented as she examined them, all of them had a few smallers bumps over the single largest bumps present on their heads.

_'He is probably venting off his daily stress like this, huh...?'_ In her mind, there was no doubts that even though Meliodas could have gone easier, he didn't bothered to do so at all.

"H-Hawk-chan! Are you alright?" Elizabeth started to fret in a worried manner as she turned towards Hawk… okay, which Hawk was the real one, she couldn't tell at all so she turned to each Hawk that was around her.

And upon hearing her voice, all the Hawks seemed to snap awake with a gasp and all run towards her, with an united shout, **"ELIZABETH-CHAAAN!"**

"Uh, wait… Hawk-chan?" Elizabeth became surprised when all of them rushed to snuggle against her before they cried all together, """""Even my momma never hits me!"""""

And then an ominous feeling… before Elizabeth saw another her raise herself in front of her… along with multiple others surrounding her.

"It's… me…?" Elizabeth muttered in shock.

Hawk (now the real and only one) had his mouth hanging open while Meliodas widened his eyes slightly, and Trista…

"Oh come, please tell me that this is a joke…" Trista facepalmed once more and heaved an even deeper sigh.

"Meliodas-sama…"

"You know this is the real me, right…?"

"Meliodas-sama, I'm right here!"

"No, I'm the real one!"

"No, me!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I'm the real Elizabeth!"

Meliodas witnessed this sigh of many Elizabeths before grinning with a hand on his chin, "Oh! So many boobies!" No need to say that his reaction was far different from the time with Hawk.

"Now's not the time!" The pig got angry and for a rare moment, Trista felt like agreeing with him. But it seems that another round of stupidity was going to start here and now.

* * *

"Raise your right hand and put your left hand on your cheek!"

***FWIP***

"Say my name really shyly."

"""""Meliodas-samaaaaa…"""""

"Grab your boobs!"

***Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze!***

"Wow, that's some eye-candy!"

"Damn you, Meliodas, just…!"

"Just quit screwing around and pick her out already."

***BAM!***

"Owowow… Geez, Triss you really don't know how to take a joke, don't you?"

"I'm already at the limits of my patience here, just hurry up, will you?"

"Okay, okay… Then the last one! Jump as high as you can!"

""""JUMP~!""""

***HOP!***

"I'm sorry, I just can't!"

***ZASH!***

* * *

Suddenly all the fakes Elizabeths that were hit by Meliodas turned back into creatures called Hide-and-Seek, also known as Prankster Imps. Those creatures inhabit the forests of Britannia and have the ability to perfectly impersonate someone as seen previously.

Upon being discovered, they immediately ran away, and muttering about 'reporting to their master that they failed their missions'. So the group immediately ran after them, but…

"Oi, oi, oi! What's wrong, Triss? Aren't you coming?" Meliodas stopped in his tracks, letting Elizabeth and Hawk gaining distance between them and him (they didn't seems to have noticed that he stopped), as he looked back at Trista who for some reason has stopped in her movements.

The girl then looked at him before asking with an unreadable expression, "Meliodas. I want to ask you something."

"Eh? Can this wait later? We are a bit busy right now."

"It's alright, we won't lost them."

"..." Meliodas was slightly confused over how Trista could say it with such a certainty but he decided to trust her with it as he crossed his arms, "Okay, but make it quick, okay?"

Trista nodded and then asked her question, "Why are you wasting your time?"

Meliodas raised an eyebrow at this, "...Okay, try to elaborate further?" Even if he knew her for a while, there was just no way he could understand with such a short sentence.

"The Piglet asides, Elizabeth was quite easy to recognize, even I managed to do so. And you, of all people, would never mistake her for someone else. Even though you could have exposed the whole thing from the very start, why did you kept this whole farce going on? Even without knocking them down, they would still have ran away and led you to their leader right?"

She meant the whole farce of stealing Elizabeth's underwear (the latter made quite a ruckus upon realizing that Trista was indeed right much to her dismay) since he apparently forseen that he needed a way to differency the real Elizabeth from the fake.

"..." Meliodas looked at Trista blankly. Indeed what she said made sense, it often made sense (besides for her few moments because of her uncommon common sense). But still what seemed to be ordinary to him, didn't seemed to be so for her. So with a grin on his face, he told her his answer…

"That's simple! Because it sounded funnier!"

"..." This cheerful answer made Trista widened her eyes slightly, as if she wasn't expecting such a thing.

Meliodas smiled at this, probably satisfied with what he just saw before turning around, "You know what Triss, I know that we're busy and all, but you should try to enjoy your life more too!" And with that he ran ahead, with a dumbfounded Trista left behind.

As she watched Meliodas' back retreating further and further, Trista stood there among the mist that finally erased his figure without moving or try to go after him. Her widened eyes then narrowed slightly as she looked down, her bangs hiding her eyes, making the look she had currently unrecognizable.

"...I would… If there was something enjoyable in my life, I would…"

As she uttered those words, something akin to a blue lightning charged towards her. Trista just looked upward blankly before the lightning enveloped her...

* * *

"Um, Meliodas-sama?"

"What is it, Elizabeth?"

"I just can't find Trista-san anywhere, wasn't she together with you earlier?" Elizabeth looked around her in slight worry, hoping that Trista may pop out from the woods but unfortunately she could barely see anything due to the heavy fog.

After they noticed that Meliodas and Trista wasn't with them, Hawk and Elizabeth started to search for them. Thankfully, Meliodas soon answered their calls but mysteriously Trista wasn't with him. They asked about her, but the only answer they received from Meliodas was…

"It's alright, she would be fine."

...So Meliodas said. It seems that he was trusting her abilities enough to consider that she would be alright on her own. Elizabeth felt slightly envious about it; the two seemed to know each other well and there was a certain amount of trust between the two also. And if one day she could have such a relationship with him too…

_'No, wait, wait! What on earth am I thinking about?!'_ Elizabeth blushed deep shade of red as she quickly put her hands on both her cheeks in order to try and repress the heat but without success.

"What's wrong Elizabeth? You're red, you know?"

"Eh…?!" When she opened her eyes (she didn't even noticed that she had closed them), she saw Meliodas' face right in front of hers before she quickly stepped back of a few steps, creating more distance between them.

"It, it's nothing at all!"

"Really?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Elizabeth-chan…?" Even Hawk was looking at her, concern filling his gaze. While…

"You… don't tell me…" The fourth voice was a female one, but not Trista's. It was the one of a tall, or rather giant young woman wearing an orange outfit, she has violet eyes and brown hair tied into pigtails-style. She is the famous member of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Serpent's Sin of Envy, Diane (it seems that the rumors were true after all).

It seems that she was quite smitten with Meliodas thus accepted to join in the journey only due to his request. And she also seemed to dislike Elizabeth because of that.

Diane pouted before turning to Meliodas, "Say Captain, who is that 'Trista-san' that this human princess is talking about? ...Could it be another of your mistress?!"

"No way, definitively not. Ah, now that I think about it, you guys never met face to face, right?" Meliodas scratched his hair before turning to Diane, "Trista is the one that I've been calling 'Triss' up until now, you never met her but you heard her voice many times, right? Through Merlin's Sacred Treasure." Perhaps it's because he denied it immediately, but Diane didn't showed her earlier's aggressiveness.

"Her voice… many times?" Diane tilted her head on the side in confusion before trying to think deep about it… and then give up while scratching her cheek with her index finger and a shy smile, "Sorry Captain, I can't remember well. It's seems that I have some trouble with my memories..."

"Well you'll meet her soon, so you would have probably remembered by then."

The Imps literally cried in joy upon hearing that the tyrant who had been ordering them for 10 years would finally left this place, Hawk couldn't help but show sympathy towards them despite the little episode from earlier. He had already saw what kind of beating Diane put Meliodas through, believing that he cheated on their non-existent relationship. If they were put through the same thing for ten long years then the only feeling that can be showed towards them was pity or sympathy, that's all.

But suddenly dark clouds started to gather in the sky upward, Hawk raised his gaze upward, Hawk looked upward as he started to sniff around, "Smells like rain-clouds... Huh?! Hey, guys, look up!" Hawk shouted, shocked by what he was seeing. The others followed and all of them saw something that should be originally impossible, now understanding why the pig was so shocked.

"What... IS UP WITH THAT GIGANTIC THUNDER CLOUD?!" Indeed, in the sky there was a large dark and circular thunderclound that was tainting the sky in a black color, inside the cercle it was forming, many thunderbolt were bolting inside. Suddenly a large one descended from the cloud and separated itself into three layers before wrapping themselves around Meliodas' body in an incredible speed.

"What's this?" He asked, surprised.

"Captain?!" Diane who was nearby immediately turned to him in worry but before she could do something, her body too war wrapped around circles of lightning, immobilizing her.

The same things happened to Elizabeth, Hawk and even the Pranksters Imps, the last group was tied against a rock though.

"My... my body's paralized..." Elizabeth muttered, shutting her eyes in discomfort as a numb feeling was spreading through her body that didn't allowed her to make the single movement.

"I-I can't move..." Hawk nearby, started to feel dizzy and seemed to be ready to fall at any moment.

And then loud footsteps were heading towards them, all of them turned around to see a pink-haired man with a bluish-silver armor, his unsheathed sword was carrying a similar lightning than the one that were binding them, surely being the source of it. And with a cold smile on his face, he uttered those next words: "Finally we meet, Seven Deadly Sins...!"

"A Holy Knight...?!"

He was no other than the Diamond-ranked Holy Knight, Gilthunder. The latter was glaring at Meliodas silenciously with a cold gaze, a small smile gracing his lips.

* * *

"Ah-hah… Now, what should I do with this?" Trista sighed to herself, ropes of lightning tying her up tightly, restraining her movements. She originally tried to dodge but before she knew it, the lightning started to follow her and caught up back to her. However…

'_However now, I can tell it… that this is exactly the same magic stored in the sword back at Bernia Village.'_ She did thought that it looked similar. Not only the color or the shape, and even the vibration. But now that she touched it, she can say it for sure, it doesn't only seems similar, it's exactly the same magic she touched at Bernia…

Trista then looked up towards the sky, dark clouds were forming a circle around a few meters away, blue lightning kept on shining and roaring through the dark sky. She didn't needed to close her eyes and concentrate her hearing in order to understand that there was a fight going on right now.

_'That magic, probably the Holy Knight who sunk the sword in first place… after all probably no mages would go waste their time here…'_ She could easily imagine the scene.

Everyone were probably binded up like she was.

Meliodas was surely able to easily break himself free from his bindings and started to engage a fight with the Holy Knight…

Elizabeth would be only able to watch from the sidelines, still bound but not hurt, just immobilized as she can only shout his name…

Hawk being the same as her, barking a lot like a dog but unable to bite anything back, and…

Now that she thinks about it, did they managed to find Diane in the end?

The sword tied at her back couldn't be drawn out at all (if Elizabeth knew that it was in such a place, she would definitively freak out, after all it was without sheath). So she was pretty much useless here and now…

"...So, can you help me out just this time?" She asked, all of the sudden, to no one in particular.

However her shadow reacted to her words and throbbed, two gleaming lights were enlightening the dark figure on the flat ground, as if it was blinking, suddenly awakening to her words.

"...No, no. It isn't the time yet, however I just want you to break those annoying bindings for me if possible." For some reason she keeps on talking even though there was no answer coming back that could be heard, if another person were to be here watching her, they would probably doubt about her sanity. But…

"I promise that I won't wake you up anymore until then."

And after she uttered those words, spikes c ame out of the shadow, piercing through the blue lightning binds and cancelling them. The spikes missed her body from only a few millimeters. If it was a normal person, they would have fainted of fear by now, but…

"Thank you, it's enough now." She then quietly brushed her hands on her sleeves, taking some dust off by the same occasion before casting a gaze towards her shadow as the spikes retreated.

However much to her surprise, the presence didn't disappeared and instead seems to persist.

"...Is there still something?" She asked, slightly unsure of its intention but suddenly…

**…!**

"Wha…?!" Not even the usually composed Trista could restrain her surprise. A certain something jumped out from her shadow and charged forward. Towards where everyone else was...

* * *

Gilthunder and Meliodas were currently engaged in a sword fight. Blades and magic clashed against each other, a duel between only the two of them due to Meliodas' orders to Diane to not interfere. ...Or that was the case earlier.

Now it turned into a scene where Gilthunder was standing, pointing his sword towards Meliodas who was laying in a pool of his own blood. Out of respect about his former mentor, Gilthunder answered his question about the current locations of his comrades before he bring an end to him.

It was then that Meliodas suddenly smirked, but… before he could even reveal his trick…

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" A loud inhuman roar.

And then 'something' came and crashed into Gilthunder at an incredible speed, shocking everyone on the scene.

Gilthunder fell on the ground, on his back, when something heavy on top of him was keeping him painfully pinned down.

"Little Gil!" Meliodas shouted and that made Gilthunder snaps out of his shock and open his eyes wide.

In front of him there was a large four-legged being… an animal? But he couldn't see its form at all, it was as if he was surrounded by a dark and ominous mist besides for the two glowing eyes that were staring at him hungrily. It looked like… a wolf or a gigantic hound, but was it truly one? It was scary… it felt like death… it felt as if it was going to eat him… and because of that Gilthunder forgot all his training as a knight and felt himself go back to the child he was...

"Snap out of it, you idiot!"

And then something else slammed into the thing that collided with him earlier as quickly, just before the beast could open its large jaw filled with sharp, shiny and pointy teeths. What an irony. And moreover the person that actually saved him was none other than…

"Geez! This is why I hate running!"

"...Triss?!"

Indeed, in front of them, there was no other than the Pseudo-Witch whom he had binded with his lightning earlier (how did she managed to broke free from it?), holding a familiar sword (that previously used to be his own) in her hand as she was struggling to keep that beast down. In her haste, she threw a glare at Meliodas, "Hurry!" She just shouted that.

Sensing the serious mood and as if he understood what she said with only that single word, he nodded before turning to the giantess and called her out, "Diane! Throw him out!"

"Got it, Captain!" And while Gilthunder was still too shocked to react properly, she grabbed him in her hand and before he could utter a single word…

"YAAAAAHHH!" She threw him in the longest distance she ever could, far, far away from them, to make sure that he would be unable to catch up back to here. It's alright, a normal human may not live after this but it should be fine for a Holy Knight.

"Triss! We're done here!"

"Good, now then…!" Trista twirled the handle of the sword, making the sword swap to the opposite direction of where it was originally, with the tip pointing towards the still struggling beast that roared in defiance.

"Ah, I take back what I said! No 'thank you' for you! Why can't you just calm down?!" However the beast was no longer listening to her demands, instead was trashting around to break free from her hold. There was nothing that could be seen from the previous relationship that was showed just a few minutes earlier. At this point, even ordering him would be useless, so…

_'I have no choice but to force him to go back!'_ With that, Trista stabbed the sword with all her strength into the beast's body. She could hear some gasps behind her but she didn't had the time to care about that, the beast groaned and was about to push her back so she had no choice but to keep pushing the sword deeper inside it.

"Go back! This wasn't a part of deal and you know it really well! What do you mean by 'a reward'?! Don't push your luck too far, brat! Just go quietly back inside, I told you that I would call for you properly next time, right?! I'm not asking to listen to everything I say but just behave, okay?!"

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" And with that last shout followed by that growl, the beast stilled, losing to the girl's strong will and then the mist around it disappeared together with the beast itself, as it returned to Trista's shadow.

And then finally the silence was back at the forest. Trista eventually stood up before turning around towards the others and looked at her sword in a slightly troubled manner. The blade of the sword was completely gone just from that, leaving only its hilt in her hand.

And she then heaved a sigh, "This can't be used anymore…" She then threw the sword's broken hilt behind her back. However before it even fall to the ground, the object turned into dust and disappeared.

"Well, I think that you people have many questions to ask…" Trista said as she chanted her gaze towards them.

Meliodas' expression turned serious and he stepped forward, his arms crossed. It was a rare expression that was not seen on his face often, something that caught Diane and Elizabeth's attention (Hawk didn't saw it since Meliodas' back was facing him).

"Of course," He said, "After seeing something like that you can only owe us some explanations."

"I see… Indeed, you are right." As if she was agreeing with his way of thinking before nodding once, and then she declared: "However, I won't answer anything about it!"

"...What?" Meliodas asked incrediously. Even the people around them were shocked, after all, was she serious? Isn't this normally something that can't be avoided to reveal?

"Yes, I won't answer anything! So there's no use to ask about it!" Trista nodded to herself, as if she was satisfied with her logic while it didn't made sense at all, and with those last words, she walked away, probably wanting to head back to the Boar Hat.

"What with that girl?! Ignoring the Captain's order like that!" Diane pouted angrily with her cheeks puffed out. She was close to feel like stomping with her feet in anger.

"Well I guess it's the usual, huh?" Hawk commented with a slight sigh.

However Meliodas, him, was strangely silent. His eyes were shadowed by his bangs, hiding them from being seen and his face was unreadable, showing no emotions.

Elizabeth was looking towards Meliodas in a slightly worried manner, "U-Um… Meliodas-sama…?" Could it be he was angry? She had seen him serious but has never saw him angry, she couldn't help but be a little nervous about it, and…

Suddenly Meliodas raised his face, his eyes wide open as he placed his hands behind his head in a fluid motion and, "Well, if she doesn't want to talk about it, it can't be helped!" He said in his usual easy-going voice.

"...Uh!" Elizabeth almost fell down in shock and incredulousness as she sweatdropped.

Hawk had a similar reaction, but he quickly recovered as he retorted in annoyance, "So you're letting it off that easily?!"

Diane, her, squealed in delight as she put her hands together and started to jump around and making the earth tremble by the same occasion, "As expected of Captain, so kind!"

"You're calling that kind?! I would rather say that it's insensible!"

"Hm? What did you said, piggy?"

"N-Nothing, ma'am!" Hawk shook in fear in front of the glint in Diane's eyes and quickly hidden himself behind Elizabeth's leg,

"H-Hawk-chan… Calm down, okay?"

"E-Elizabeth-chaaaannn…!" The princess tried her best to calm her pig friend down while the latter ended up in tears, at the same time scared of Diane's threat and moved by Elizabeth's kindness.

"Nishishi!" Meliodas grinned, seeing the state his comrades were in currently, before his expression turned more pensive, unseen by his traveling companions as he tried to make himself remember what happened earlier.

'_That beast… I don't remember having seen it before, but why does it feel so familiar?'_ It was as if he had encountered such an aura before, but from where again? That, he didn't knew. And it didn't seemed that Trista was going to tell him about it any soon.

* * *

Howzer was waiting at Liones Kingdom's front gates, he heard that his best friend Gilthunder, would return soon so he wanted to meet up with him before anyone else. If he didn't did so then he would have to wait for him to finish until his report end, and it would take too much time.

***Clang… clang…***

Upon hearing the sound of armored footsteps, Howzer looked up to see a familiar pink-hair and silver armor, without having any doubt of mistaking his best friend, Howzer raised a hand and called out with a smile on his face, "Yo, Gil! How was your… Wait, woah?!"

However his smile soon turned into a scream upon seeing the state where his best friend was currently in. It was normal after all, Gilthunder's armor was covered in mud, twigs of tree branchs were stuck in his hair. To describe it in one sentence; it seemed as if he had been thrown through the land.

Howzer was beyond shocked, after all as a Holy Knight, Gilthunder was pretty strong, so much that even Howzer had an hard time to win against him. Yet, how on earth did someone managed to beat him up in such an extend?!

_'C-Could it be, really one of the Seven Deadly Sins?!'_ But before Howzer could ask anything, Gilthunder fell forward, on his knees, as his hands placed themselves on the ground to help him into supporting himself.

"Oi, what's wrong, Gil?! Are you wounded or anything?!" Howzer immediately kneeled besides his friend, trying to check over his condition, and he heard the most unexpected words he thought would ever come out from his serious friend's mouth.

"...Thanks goodness, he isn't a travesty…"

"...What?"

Yes, of all the things possible and through the horrible experiences he went through, the thing that Gilthunder was the most relieved of is that Meliodas wasn't the crossdresser he almost thought him to be.

_'...Gil, you must have been terribly tired, huh?'_ However to Howzer, it was the beginning of another misunderstanding.

* * *

**A/N.: Thus end the Arc of the Forest of White Dreams and start the one of the Baste Dungeon's! It seems that Trista and the shadow don't get along as much it seemed to like in the previous chapter XD It seems that there are many translations for Howzer's name, but I have decided to keep it like this. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review!**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 5: **_"I love it! What is with her shadow ? Update when you can!"

_**My answer:**_ Here is your answer, I hope that you liked it!

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 5: **_"Another very sweet and entertaining chapter, can't wait to see the other sins. Good work."

_**A.:**_ Thank you, here is Diane's appearance!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 5: **_"I should admit that I laughed on the parts where Gilthunder thought Meliodas would ever do the crossdresser (why wouldn't he just think a chance that Meliodas has a daughter or other ideas) and the other one is when Meliodas was confiscating Trista's Cocoa (I feel like witness a child get punishment from her father and beggedwhined to her father who having enjoy to punish his little girl LOL)

Anyway, after re-reading (because I only half-finished it before, I just realized the guardian on the shadow (just like Ruth who hides in Chise's shadow from Mahou Tsukai No Yome)"

**_A.:_** I'm glad that it made you laugh then! I didn't intend to make a reference to Mahou Tsukai no Yome originally but it indeed sounds coherent now that you said it.


	7. Baste Dungeon Arc - I

**A/N.: I'm sorry for the late update everyone! I was busy with homeworks and tests these few days, I'll try to catch back as much as possible! Here is today's chapter! I hope that everyone would enjoy, and once again, thank you for reading my story!**

* * *

**BASTE DUNGEON ARC - I : _Waking up the Sleeping Beauty_**

* * *

"EEH?! You were the voice that came out from Merlin's Aldan?!"

"And Diane, this is what I've just said earlier, didn't I?"

Diane's shocked shout of surprise could be heard, soon followed by Meliodas' dry retort.

All of the group were back at the Boar Hat with a gigantic green pig (Hawk Mama) carrying the store building on its back. Diane, however, couldn't fit in the building with her size as a giant so had no choice but to walk besides the giant green pig who was slightly smaller than her.

Trista looked up at the giantess who was staring at her in shock before asking, "Is this that surprising?"

"Of course it is! Waah! You're like a doll! I always thought that you were the crystal ball!"

"..."

"..."

"Eh? What's wrong? And Captain too…" Diane felt slightly nervous under the double stares given by the blonde duo, and for some reason it seemed to be a quite synchronized movement, matching in both speed of the change of expression and also the flatness of the gaze.

Trista began, "No matter how much that devil is talented, creating talking objects seemed to be utterly devoid of any purpose."

And without letting any time for Diane to react, Meliodas immediately followed after her. "Besides didn't Merlin said that it was an actual person who was speaking through and that Aldan was only used as a communication tool for that?"

Suddenly two imaginary arrows with the two's words written on it, flew and went to stab Diane in the chest, making her grunt in pain with a silly expression on her face. Of course since they were only imaginary arrows, there was no way it could hurt physically or make her bleed, but for some reasons, Diane felt like as she was actually being pierced by them.

"Uh, uh…" She mumbled awkwardly, scratching her slightly blushing cheek with her index finger, "From when was it again…?"

"Well surely around 10 years ago, when the Sins were still active, right…?" Meliodas casted a questioning glance towards Trista who nodded in response. "Yes, shortly after the formation of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"Heh… You sure have a good memory, huh?"

"...Well there weren't many interesting things back then." For some reasons, Trista was averting her gaze from him when she said that.

"...I'm going back inside." With that, Trista turned her back and left.

For a moment, it seemed that she tried to change the subject and escape from answering. Meliodas didn't understand the reason she was like that, and he didn't tried to understand any further either. Trista was quite a complicated one after all, who would know what she has in mind. So he rubbed his head slightly and went back to his conversation with Diane.

* * *

"Ah, Trista-san, welcome back. Are Meliodas-sama and Diane-sama still outside?" Elizabeth greeted Trista who entered with a smile on her face while the latter just silently nodded in response. But then she stared at Hawk with a pensive look on her face.

And after a few more seconds of staring without any explanations, Hawk became unnerved and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well… When Elizabeth said that she was going to help you to cool your bottom's meat, I thought that it was supposed to be a joke, but to think it was true…" Trista commented as she looked at the wooden water sink nearby and a wet towel covering Hawk's behind.

"Well… since you were not here when that happened, I can't blame you for not noticing… or rather, why are you bringing up things like that in such a late time?" Hawk mumbled.

"I guess that I never considered them as important before." Trista answered without missing a beat.

"What?! Are you saying that you don't care about what would happen to this nice body of mine?!"

"Why should I care about this round body of yours? But that do explain why I felt like I smelled roasted meat at the forest." Trista nodded to herself in understanding.

Hawk shrieked in return, "Pugyaa! What with you?! Saying things like what Meliodas would say!"

"...!" For a second, it would have seemed that Trista flinched at Hawk's words, however it disappeared as quickly as this reaction appeared. "Say, I was curious for quite a while about this and let me ask, but why on earth are you addressing at both Meliodas and Diane with 'sama'?"

"Oi, are you ignoring me?!" Hawk angrily puffed up air from his nostrils as he screamed in annoyance.

"...Eh?" For some reasons it seemed that Trista was trying to change the subject of the conversation, but surely it should be her imagination, right? Elizabeth thought so, she then realized that it may be at her that Trista was speaking. "E-Eh? M-Me?"

"Well other than you, nobody else do that."

"W-Well, I don't want to be impolite."

"Why do you have to worry about that, you of all people. After all Holy Knights… or former Holy Knights were working for the royalty, right? And as the princess of the kingdom, shouldn't it they be the ones who treat you more politely."

"I-It's alright! Besides they are legendary Holy Knights, there is no need to concern themselves with someone as lowly than me…"

"...What a princess you are."

"...?" Elizabeth didn't knew what meaning those words supposed to have. But then she remembered about what she and Hawk talked about just before Trista arrived. About how she told him about the Gilthunder she used to know… and then ended up comparing him to the Gilthunder they just met…

"What's wrong?" Trista asked, noticing that Elizabeth's expression became sadder.

Elizabeth realized that she was still with other people with a gasp before smiling shyly, "I-It's nothing, Trista-san. I'm going to see what Meliodas-sama and Diane-sama are doing." And with that she quickly left outside of the bar.

Trista could almost see her earlier reflexion in Elizabeth's actions. However she then became curious and turned to Hawk, "Did something happened to her…?"

Hawk made a 'Pugo, pugo' sound as he was thinking back and then answered her, "Well I don't really know either but… it seemed that that Holy Knight guy that we met at the forest, err… the one Meliodas called 'Little Gil'!"

"By 'Little Gil'... could it perhaps be Gilthunder, the deceased Great Holy Knight, Zaratras' son?"

"Yeah, it's that! Elizabeth-chan did said something like that earlier, and apparently, Meliodas even trained him in the past!"

_'I see… So it was truly him, huh…? He is far different from the child he used to be from what I have heard. And it had only been 10 years, can people change this much for such a short time…?'_

"...Oh."

"Hm? What's wrong Trista?"

"Nothing."

"Hmm, is that so? If there's nothing, then I'll be going to Elizabeth-chan's, okay?"

"You better hurry, it is only a matter of time before she is getting sexually harassed by Meliodas again."

"WHAT?! That swine again?! This shall never happen under the sharp eyes of this Hawk-sama!" And Hawk also ran outside at his maximum speed, swinging the door open before it closed with a BANG!

"..." Now finally alone in the bar's hall, Trista walked the wooden stool at one of the table nearby before sitting on it. Now she was finally able to think all alone to her heart content, without anyone bothering her.

_'What on earth am I thinking about, I wonder? It is supposed to be a normal thing for them, even Elizabeth. ...But if she never came to me, I would have never known that 10 years have already passed. ...Did I truly forgot the notion of time since he stopped to come…?'_

**PAF…!**

Then all of the sudden she slapped both her cheeks with her hands quite hardly, so much that the sound reasoned loudly in the room. Surely it must have hurt, but Trista didn't seemed to reacting like it was, so much she was immersed in her thoughts.

_'How embarrassing… It sound like I was waiting for him to come… such a thing, I would rather die than admit it out loud!'_ Thankfully nobody was here to witness such a scene of her, now back at more important matters…

Trista leaned her elbow forward on the table before crossing her fingers together. _'At that time, when I went ahead before them… I thought that I saw something like a black crow circling around us in the sky.'_

However that itself, was abnormal.

After all it should from what she had seen, most of the animals of the forest, wherever it was birds or the four-legged ones, all of them were trying to run away or to distance themselves the most from the source. So why was that crow seemed to be the only one turning in round so close to it?

Indeed it was weird. And there was also the fact that Gilthunder found them way too quickly, it hadn't even been a full day since they departed from the Bernia Village. The soldiers of before are probably the ones who send an information about their passage, but they shouldn't know where they were headed next.

Then was it the villagers who gave away this information? Trista could hardly imagine them doing it willingly after how grateful they seemed to be when their water spring was back to them. But the possibility of them being threatened to do so by the soldiers was quite possible. Or…

_'Could it be… that we were followed since the start? I was pretty sure that it didn't happen until Elizabeth found Meliodas… then could it be after that? There was no tracing device on Elizabeth either. But the possibility that we are being followed from a distance far enough so not even Meliodas could notice it…'_

Perhaps that the crow of that time, was…

_'...Well, I may be overthinking too, there is also a possibility that I am wrong.'_ Trista pushed herself backward on her seat and stretched her arms upward.

The possibilities were too many and she didn't gained enough hints yet to make a proper analyze of it or to even reach a certain conclusion.

She then laid the side of her head on the table and hummed in thought. With that much of progress she wouldn't go really far, so at least she tried to recover even the minimum amount of informations through her memories of the previous events. However…

_"You know what Triss, I know that we're busy and all, but you should try to enjoy your life more too!"_

_"...I would… If there was something enjoyable in my life, I would…"_

"..."

_'That's wrong… I, am different from the past me… besides I don't for them, but for me, this journey is just a…'_ Trista then pulled on her cheeks in order to chase away those thoughts and go back to her focus, but…

***Clack***

"Hm…?"

"...Ah." For some reason, the door was swung open often today. And unfortunately of all people, the one who did so was…

"...Triss…?"

...Yes, of all people it had to be him. After all there was only one person who called her like that. And him of all people, saw her pulling on her cheeks quite strongly, forming her face into a ridiculous expression, when he entered back in the bar.

...How awkward seriously. And after a slight moment of silence...

"...What is it, Meliodas?"

"Err… What are you doing?"

"Stretching my face's muscles."

"No, no, no… No matter how I look at it,"

"Stretching my face's muscles."

"Still…"

"Stretching my face's muscles."

Meliodas then rubbed the back of his head in thought. In normal times, he would first go with one to two retorts, and then four to five teasing comments, however it seemed that despite he caught Trista red-handed in… whatever she was doing (he didn't even understood what), she still refused to let him say anything.

So in the end he could only give up after facing her unwavering stubbornness. He raised his hands in surrenders as he sighed, "Okay, okay, okay… Whatever you say it is."

"Good then." The girl nodded in satisfaction. "Why did you came back here alone? I thought that Elizabeth would follow you."

"Come on, don't treat her like a dog. She's still outside with Diane and Hawk."

"I see. Indeed you are right, she isn't one, the one who seems more like one is you."

"...What are you trying to say, Triss?" Meliodas stopped smiling at that moment.

"...Nothing special." Trista just closed her eyes, as if what she said was just some trivial matter that shouldn't be taken seriously.

She then looked upward and saw Meliodas' shoulder. "That wound… you aren't going to treat it?"

"Nope, it's fine, I already told them over here but I'm quite though, you know? A tiny wound like that is nothing." Meliodas grinned again, as if his earlier serious expression didn't even happened.

Trista then switched her gaze to the wound, it was cut deep in his shoulder, some flesh was cut open and blood was still flowing out. No matter how you looked at it, it couldn't be called 'nothing'.

"...Are you sure of it?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I'm sure of it!" Meliodas' smile didn't faltered at all, his voice didn't wavered at all, he didn't seemed to be bothered about the pain either nor trying to treat the wound.

Seeing him like this, Trista…

"...Hah… What a suicidal man you are…" She just sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "At least stop the blood from flowing out, will you?"

"Hohoho? What is it, Triss? Are you worried about me～?" Meliodas smirked and asked in a teasing manner.

"In a way, yes. If you keep on dripping blood on the floor then later on it would be a pain for you to clean that up." She replied immediately and in a serious manner that didn't make it seem like it was a joke.

"Oi oi, it's about that that you're concerned about? But if that's happen then I'll ask Hawk to clean up for me."

"So the pig is always cleaning this place up with his saliva? Yuck."

"Hahaha! You're lucky that Hawk isn't here to hear what you just said!"

"...Does that pig truly eat everything?"

"Well his diet isn't focused on the leftovers only…"

At this point, it isn't about being omnivore anymore… it wouldn't even be surprising to witness some cannibalism act from that pig.

"Well I'll go upward, Triss!"

"Sure, and be sure to not pass out from it."

"Yeah, yeah… Oh, and sorry for doubting you, your informations were right after all." He got the confirmation with Gilthunder a while ago after all.

_'It isn't surprising for you to doubt about me... after all, I...'_

With that, Meliodas departed upward by walking up the stairs, probably going to his room to at least to change his clothes, unaware of her previous thoughts. Perhaps he was just wishing to be alone in order to heal his wounds, not that it was something that she couldn't understand taking account his troublesome and complicated personal circumstances. He needed to use his powers in order to regenerate himself but doing so in front of people would give unneeded hints which would lead to another problematic situation.

_'And even he wouldn't be foolish enough to ignore them, right…?'_ All Trista hoped is that his 'I'm alright' was just a show-off in front of others only and that he would secretly fix himself now, while nobody was watching. Since she didn't heard any loud or weird sounds from upward, it seemed that he was alright.

***Clack!***

Suddenly once again, the door was opened…

"Ah, Trista-san!"

"The door is sure working a lot today…"

"Eh?"

"No, it's nothing. What's wrong Elizabeth?"

"Err…" Elizabeth then looked around the hall, however it seems that she didn't found what she wanted to find and looked at Trista in a confused manner, "Trista-san, may I ask where is Meliodas-sama…?"

"And obviously like he is always looking for her, she is also always searching for him…"

"E-Eh…?!" Though she didn't understood of what Trista was currently talking about, Elizabeth couldn't help herself but feel her cheeks redden as she start to get flustered.

_'...It seems that I talk out loud my thoughts without noticing these few days, I need to be more careful about it.'_ Trista thought to herself before answering Elizabeth, "He is upward, probably in his room."

Elizabeth's smile then brightened as she showed something in her hands, "I just fixed Meliodas-sama's bag earlier so I'm going to give it back!" And with that Elizabeth climbed up the stairs like Meliodas did, following the latter's actions.

Trista watched her doing so before turning her gaze towards the floor, towards her own shadow to be more precise. She studied it carefully under gaze as if she was searching something before ended up sighing in relief.

_'Good, the color is lighter and I don't sense any signs of opening. I truly managed to send it back. Now that it was weakened from the earlier blow, hopefully it won't come back until I call for it… and let's hope that there would be no more need to until the right time come…'_ And for that, she needed some kind of countermeasure, in order to not have to rely on its strength just because she was not prepared enough. Hopefully things won't turn worsts after this. And as Trista began to scan her options...

"Trista-san!"

***Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…!***

Trista who was suddenly brought out of her thoughts, turned towards the source of the voice who called out to her, who was none other than Elizabeth who descended half of the stairs in hurry. Her voice filled with distress, tears at the corner of her eyes and a panicked expression on her face.

There was not even the need for Trista to ask 'What's wrong?', no matter how one see it, something happened, and from her reaction, something that isn't good.

"M-Meliodas-sama... isn't moving… and, and… from his shoulder, blood…!" In her state, Elizabeth couldn't even form proper and coherent words, but the intent within them got perfectly transmitted.

Trista stood up in a swift motion from her seat and then followed Elizabeth, she didn't ran like the princess did but her walking pace was quite fast. Once they reached Meliodas' room after climbing up the stairs, at the entrance of the already opened door, Trista saw it…

"..."

She saw an unconscious Meliodas, laying face against the mattress of his bed in a horizontal position compared to the vertical one the bed was put in, his wound still untreated as his blood was tainting the white sheets.

"T-Trista-san… What, what on earth should we do?! M-Meliodas-sama is… Meliodas-sama is…!"

"Calm down, Elizabeth."

"But…!"

"Panicking would be the worst thing to do in such a situation, and moreover it would make us lost precious time."

"...Y-Yes…!" Now that Elizabeth seems a bit more calmer and willing to listen, Trista gave her the instructions, the least she want was for Elizabeth to start to hyperventilate and end up unconscious like Meliodas.

"Go outside to the Serpent Sin and inform the pig to head towards the closest town, since we are close by the Baste Dungeon around now then the closest town nearby should be Dalmary. There should be at least doctors who would have better equipment to help him out."

"Y-Yes!" Elizabeth immediately ran away, heading towards where Trista told her to.

Trista, her, then walked over Meliodas' lying figure and put her hand on his wrist. _'...His hearts are still beating, maybe he lost consciousness because of the blood loss. But the past him would have never be down just because of that… Was it because of those 10 last peaceful years for him…?'_

Trista then eyed the previously white sheets now covered in red because of his blood, and then sighed in exasperation as she face-palmed herself. "Even though I said to not dirty the floor, I didn't meant that you could dirty the sheets instead… Now it's going to be an ever greater pain to deal with. And also, the 'don't you dare to faint' was supposed to be a joke, not a demand… Oh, that's right. Let's stop the blood from flowing out first."

* * *

And so they made Hawk Mama run at full speed towards Dalmary. (It is a mystery about how the bar suffered from minimal shakes only despite the rush.) And once they have arrived…

"KYAAAAAH! A giant, it's a GIANT!"

"Everyone, hurry up and run away!"

"SHE IS GOING TO KILL US! And there's a giant pig with her!"

"N-No, wait! We are just searching for a doctor!" Diane begged anxiously to the villagers to not flee away from her, but unfortunately in vain.

And nearby, "And, this… is why I told you that you should have stayed behind on this one." Was Trista's usual dry comment.

"B-But I really wanted to help Captain…"

"I don't doubt about your intention, but you could have helped him far more by doing something else than charging forward." Trista blamed it over her poor choice of words.

When she gave instructions to Elizabeth, she only concentrated herself into rushing towards the closest town possible and completely forgot to take account Diane's possessiveness when it came to Meliodas. Because of this, Diane completely lost her cool and charged together at full speed at the sides of Hawk Mama. Even though she didn't meant anything bad and only had good will, to the ordinary human villagers, it must have been a sight as if the apocalypse itself had arrived; where a giantess and a giant pig sprinting at full speed towards them...

"...That's why humans are always so…" Diane mumbled in a teary manner.

Trista couldn't help but turn to someone else for help, "Elizabeth. Sorry to ask you that but can you find a doctor for Meliodas? Piglet, accompany her as her bodyguard, and Diane, keep Meliodas on you until they find one and stay on alert for any enemies in view."

"Mmm… The Captain is the only one who has the right to order me! ...Though I don't mind watching over him." Diane pouted unhappily at Trista's way of giving instructions.

But Trista didn't cared the least about that, she didn't cared about Diane's feelings about it, and it wasn't a situation in where you can freely lose time. "Unfortunately, your beloved captain isn't in good shape enough to give the instructions, so I temporarily took that role, when he would be back on his feets, I will gladly give it back so just be patient about it."

Though Diane wanted to retort something, she couldn't help but agree much to her frustration to the correct reasoning behind Trista's words, "U-Uuh…! I-It's just this time only, this time only, you hear me?!"

"Yes, yes."

"But Trista," Suddenly Hawk called out from below, "It's great to give everyone instructions and all, but what you're gonna do, you?"

Trista just closed her eyes once before opening them and looking towards what was near Diane and the second reason for why the villagers were freaking out, "I will take your mother a little more faraway from this place, I guess? We are already standing out a lot, even more and it would become troublesome to deal with."

* * *

_'Over there should be alright, I guess…?'_ After leading Hawk Mama out of Dalmary of a few meters and reaching a forest, Trista who was still on the bar, looked down towards the body of the green pig. "Do you think that we moved enough away to avoid the store from getting caught in the crossfire?"

"..." The one whom she asked this question to was none other than Hawk Mama. However she had yet received an answer. There was a possibility that the giant pig couldn't understand her words, after all the two were of two different races. And Hawk, the talking pig who acted as the translator wasn't currently present.

But Trista still waited patiently for the answer that may not even come. ...And after a while…

**"Pugoooooooo…"** A loud pig-like cry similar to Hawk but far deeper and longer came out from the large pig.

Trista widened her eyes slightly and then nodded in response as she said: "Understood." Then she jumped down from the bar down to the ground, making a descent from a void of a few meters, before landing on her feets, with a hand on the ground.

She then turned around and looked back at Hawk Mama burying herself in the ground at an incredible speed. _'How on earth can pigs do such a thing…?'_ She didn't knew, would Hawk one day be able to do the same? Hopefully not, it would be too weird.

Then Trista just started to go back towards the direction of Dalmary again. Wherever she truly understood the words that the giant pig said or not, whatever is the conversation she exchanged with the green pig, whatever it meant… all of this would be left as a mystery.

_'...What is that?'_ Trista then squinted her eyes over the city, she could see something dark and in great numbers surrounding it, but she didn't knew what it was. Instead, she began to haste her pace and hurried forward.

* * *

"Meliodas-sama… Please get better soon." Elizabeth put a wet towel on the unconscious Meliodas' forehead as he was laying on the bed in Dalmary's doctor's clinic, a kind man named Doctor Dana generously offered them help despite being total strangers to each other, and even took the time to treat Meliodas' wounds and feed him medicine.

For some reason the doctor had to exit somewhere, which left both Hawk and Elizabeth alone together in order to take care of Meliodas who had yet woke up.

She wanted to be more helpful towards the person who always protected her, but unfortunately she couldn't do much with her powerlessness. She couldn't protect him, neither she could help him. In the end, this was the only the thing she could do for him was to stay by his side and take care of him when he was unconscious...

_"A princess like you is only good at changing the Captain's towels and play nurse for him!"_

Elizabeth remembered Diane's words, and couldn't help but agree with them much to her sadness. She felt so useless and wished to be more useful, but didn't knew how she could do so. She felt envious about Diane's strength and power, but also about how much more helpful she could be compared to herself.

_'...Huh? But if I remember well, didn't Diane-sama said…'_ Elizabeth now had a surprised expression.

Earlier after Diane took care of all the poisonous bugs that released acid enough to make the entire town in one go, yet just before she depart towards the Baste Dungeon.

_"...I wish that I was small."_

It was such a shy and quiet mumble that could even be buried under the sound of the wind's soft blowing, but Elizabeth heard it without any doubt. The powerful giantess Diane, one of the famous Seven Deadly Sins, had ignored any form of pride and admitted that she was envious of a powerless and weak princess like herself. A princess like her who couldn't even do something on her own, who couldn't do anything without begging another for help.

_'However, this means that even I can do something…'_ Elizabeth then kneeled on the floor before intertwining her fingers together, closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows deeply as she prayed.

_'Please, make that Meliodas-sama get better quickly…!'_ The matter about the Holy Knights or about Liones' current state or even the search for the Seven Deadly Sins all left her mind for that single moment, all she wished for the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins was to wake up the earlier possible, not in order for him to go back fighting again, but just because she wanted him to be back at his usually smiling self again. Only that, just that, and nothing more than that…

"...Elizabeth-chan…" Hawk whispered her name as he saw the girl's actions.

"...Are his wounds properly treated now?"

"Yes. He is now sleeping peacefully."

"I see… I didn't expected you to find a doctor so quickly though, with the recent doings of the Holy Knights I expected people to be more wary towards strangers now…"

"But even so they are still kind people out here willing to help others. I am relieved of it."

"Was the doctor who helped him that kind of person?"

"Yes… Wait, Hawk-chan, weren't you with me all the time? Why are you asking all those questions suddenly?" Elizabeth turned towards Hawk in a confused manner, and the latter only send her back a similar gaze. "What are you talking about Elizabeth-chan? I didn't said anything since earlier, you know?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

Both Elizabeth and Hawk looked at each other in confusion, if it wasn't Hawk who spoke, then who on earth was it? It wasn't soon that their curiosity and confusion turned into fear at a certain possibility. What if the one who spoke was a ghost? Or worst, even a Holy Knight?!

The two shaked in fear as they realized their common thoughts, not even daring to turn back, but then…

"Oi." A cold hand was put on both on the uncovered skin of Elizabeth's shoulders and Hawk's head…

"KYAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"PUGYAAAAAAAAA!"

Both the princess and the pig screamed with all the strength that their lungs could afford to, creating a very high-pitched ruckus.

But then Elizabeth remembered something as she stopped screaming and let Hawk continue on his own…

_'Huh…? Now that I think about it, that voice…'_ 'I'm sure that I heard it somewhere before' went unsaid as Elizabeth recognized the voice, and turned around in order to see its source, only to widen her eyes in surprise (or maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised about it?) upon seeing the person in question.

"Trista-san?!"

"...Eh?" This call caused Hawk to stop in his (earlier) continuous shouting and looked behind him too, only to have the same reaction as Elizabeth.

After all the figure standing behind them was none other than Trista, who was supposed to be gone outside of Dalmary, was currently behind them. Note: she was also frowning deeply while covering her ears with both her hands, oops…

"What?! So it was you all this time, Trista?! Don't surprise me like that!" Hawk was almost hyperventilating from the shock, since he was a pig, he couldn't even put a hand on his still fast-beating heart.

"...This is what I should say." Trista finally let her hands go from her ears, "Were the two of you planning to turn me deaf?"

"N-No way, such a thing! I-I am terribly sorry…" Elizabeth bowed her head in apology, an embarrassed blush covering the majority of her face.

"Or rather, if you were here from the beginning then just say it!" Hawk retorted back, a little annoyed.

At that, Trista just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and answered back, "Well since you guys properly answered me, I thought that you two already knew that I was here."

"No, no, no… We didn't noticed at all! We just answered by reflexes! Or rather, what are you, some kind of assassin?!"

"Well, putting that aside…"

"Are you ignoring me?!"

"Elizabeth."

"Y-Yes!"

Completely ignoring Hawk who was still noisy behind, Trista approached the bed where Meliodas was still laying on. "What is his current condition?"

"Well, Dr. Dana said that thanks to Trista-san giving him the first-aid beforehand, his life wasn't in danger."

"The most surprising was that he didn't even had the appropriate equipment for those kind of situation, even though such a thing is elementary during traveling." 'He just had an unneeded large amount of ale collection', so she declared in an exasperated manner.

Trista then examined Meliodas from a closer view before concluding, "Well… isn't he doing better than expected? To think that he didn't even woke up after all that ruckus."

"Dr. Dana treated his wounds and also gave him some medicine, it is probably because of that."

"Heh… What kind of medicine did he gave to him?"

"Well, I am not a doctor so I don't know what kind, but he said that he brewed it beforehand himself."

"...Beforehand… huh…?" Suddenly Trista looked quite pensive, but then her eyes widened a bit, as if she just realized something. Then she took another pensive look as she put a hand on her chin, as if she was deep in thought.

Elizabeth was about to ask what was wrong with her, but…

"Elizabeth, that so-called medicine, is there still some in this room?"

"Eh…? If I remember well, over here…" Elizabeth pointed over the nearby table, where there what seemed to be a teapot(?). "But Dr. Dana said that this medicine was made especially for Meliodas-sama and that people who aren't suffering from the same symptoms must absolutely not drink it."

"...Heh…" Trista hummed in interest as if she has caught on something and then turned her head and looked into many different directions as if she was searching for something, then she went to the window, opened it, and then did the same as she did previously before closing it.

"Trista…-san…?"

"No, nevermind. Elizabeth, be sure to stay close to Meliodas."

"I-I didn't have the intention to distance myself from him, though…?" Elizabeth answered, confused by Trista's words, but the latter just nodded in satisfaction and then went towards the exit of the room.

"Oi, where the heck are you planning to go, Trista?" Hawk asked.

"Ah, that's right, I forgot one last thing."

"Huh?" As if Hawk just reminded her of something, Trista immediately retreated her steps back and walked near Meliodas' bed, and leaning forward to him, using the bed as a support, her mouth closer to his ear…

"W-Wait a second, Trista-san?! What on earth are you…?!" Elizabeth suddenly felt really panicked much to her own confusion, along with an irresistible need to separate the two from each other. But then after looking carefully, she realized that Trista, with a hand near her mouth, was just whispering something into Meliodas' ear.

It seemed to be something quite short, since Trista distanced herself from him and stood up and looked at Elizabeth with a neutral expression, "Why were you so flustered?" She asked so.

However Elizabeth, herself, was at loss on how to answer. _'I wonder why too…?'_ That feeling was new to her, she never felt it before, it was the very first time.

"You know, I wasn't going to attack him in his sleep, there is no need to worry. I wasn't going to do anything weird."

"Eh… EEEHH?!"

"Even though I feel an irresistible urge to draw on his face right now."

"...Eh? This is what you meant?"

"Did you thought that I meant something else?" Trista tilted her head on the side.

At this moment, after realizing the misunderstanding she just had, Elizabeth's face changed from white to red in less than one second, sweat started to pour out from her forehead like a waterfall as she held her two hands up in denial and tried to form words that didn't have a meaning, "N-No, I-I… Th-this is… It's not…!"

But in the end she could only silence herself as her blush grow deeper and redder and that steam come out of her head like a kettle, while letting out a 'Uuuh…' tearful mumble from her mouth.

Seeing this, Trista…

"Well, I just recited a charm in order to make him wake up faster."

"...A charm?"

"Yes."

"Heh? Now that I think about it, Trista you're a witch, aren't ya? So what did you said to wake him up?" Hawk asked, suddenly quite interested, it also caught Elizabeth's attention.

Trista then said in a perfectly "I am not a witch, but I'll still answer you. I just told him that if he was willing to wake up soon, then Elizabeth would let him touch her to his heart's content."

"WHA… Seriously?!"

"P-Please tell me this is a joke!" Both Hawk and Elizabeth had their respective and differents reactions from it.

Trista just turned around and, "Of course it is a joke."

***BAM!***

Both Elizabeth and Hawk fell to the floor in exasperation. Elizabeth being the first one to get back up as she patted her chest and sighed in relief, "I-Is that so, I'm relieved…"

"You shouldn't, Elizabeth-chan! Don't forgive her so easily, just scold her!" Hawk didn't knew with what he should be the more exasperated, was it Trista's strange common sense? Or Elizabeth's too-easy-forgiveness? Thankfully Meliodas was unconscious right now, because if he had to play the straight-man role for the three, it would be overwork even for him.

"However the fact that I recited some magic spell, that isn't wrong."

"B-But in the end, what on earth did you said Trista-san…?"

"Nothing weird, just the pure truth, but if I reveal it it wouldn't work anymore, right? So please let me off with that."

"I-Is that so…?"

"Yes, it is so. Now then…" With that, Trista walked towards the exit once more, the tea bottle containing in her hand.

"Wait, again?!" Hawk exclaimed, "Where are you planning to go with that?!"

"I was planning to do some studying about it, the whole situation smell like suspicious after all…"

"Suspicious…? Ah! But Trista-san, be sure to not drink it!"

"I know, and be sure to not distance yourself from him, and I truly mean it!" She repeated it twice, and with that Trista opened the door and left to somewhere.

And after she left…

"Now that I think about, where on earth is she going to…?"

"No idea…"

And those were the words of the ones who were left in the dark...

* * *

After walking out from some distance of the clinic, Trista looked around her and saw all the earth pillars coming out from the ground in an irregular manner along with the many holes inside the building surely caused by some kind of acid produced by the now crushed insects. It wasn't much difficult to guess who was the culprit, or rather the benefactor who did it.

_'Well I only know one race able to do such a thing after all…'_ Only the Giant Clan, possessing the power of 'Creation' was able to do such a feat, using the earth as a resource and then changing its shape before creating something completely different from it. And the only there was one member of this clan among the Seven Deadly Sins, the Serpent's Sin of Envy, Diane.

_'Well, I am grateful that she took her time to protect this place from… poisonous bugs? Well, but still why on earth did she left for Baste Dungeon for? With Meliodas still unconscious, there is no way that Piglet would be enough as a bodyguard, and yet…'_ But what is done is already done, there was no way to try and remedy with it now of all time.

Trista then opened the tea pot and looked inside, with the lid present in her other hand.

"Let's see… Wolfsbane, Belladonna, Tiger Beetle, Henbane Leaf… All of them are poisonous ingredients, huh…?" Trista listed as if she recognized all the ingredients, "And to call that a 'medicine'… what a joke, anybody who is given this would indeed rest in peace, so much that they wouldn't wake up ever again." She has seen them all in the past, wherever it was in a book or for real. However the herbs weren't even chopped off, thus making it recognizable. The one who made it isn't used to make poisons.

At first she didn't doubted anything, she did find it strange that medicine was given to him as a drink. Meliodas didn't had any kind of illness, just physical wounds, so there should be no need to make him drink medicine.

But then it was the fact that 'this medicine had been especially prepared for Meliodas-sama's sake only beforehand'. It was as if they knew that Meliodas needed help and that they were heading to Dalmary far before their arrival. And also the said doctor's absolute refusal over anyone other than him to drink it. Indeed, it may be bad for a person who isn't sick to drink medicine, but it isn't enough to hide them.

And more importantly the teapot wasn't transparent, unlike the previous ones she has seen before, as if he wanted to hide the ingredients from any sight on purpose, in case someone might recognize them.

_'What a clever coward…'_ Trista thought with a slight mix of impressment and disappointment. Whoever thought of that plan must not be an ally, they knew that Meliodas was the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins and wanted to avoid a direct fight by taking him out first. Humans would be killed immediately with that... However... only humans, that is.

Trista then looked up, towards the direction of the clinic where Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk should still be at. _'However, such a small thing would never be able to harm you, right?'_

All she hoped was for her 'magic words' would work and wake the faithful knight in time before an evil magician end up stealing both his sword and his princess away. But knowing him, it would probably be alright, after all he has a surprising habit to wake up at the perfect time.

"...Now then, what to do with that…?" Trista stared at the nearly empty teapot in her hand, the doctor must have been quite desperate to feed Meliodas so much of it. Throwing it away recklessly may bring unwanted trouble later, so she decided she would keep it for now. It may be useful for latter, but for now…

"...Let's do some cleaning, shall we…?" Trista said to no one in particularly as she turned around, while hidden in the forest's darkness, thousand of glowing eyes started to appear and blink at her, a noisy buzzing noise approaching altogether.

* * *

**_Hey… I bet that you can hear me right now, right?_**

_"__Hey, Cap'n, c'mon!"_

_"What do you want, Ban?"_

_Aaah… This voice feel so nostalgic, one that he didn't heard for years already…_

_"I told you already, come oooon! Let me see the sword!"_

_"What's so exciting about seeing that junk…?"_

_A dream, This was probably a dream. But from when was it again..._

_"Cap'n, don't play dumb with me. Why is the Captain of the Sins aaaaalways holding onto that piece of junk everywhere he goes…? And when it never leaves your side, not even when you're drinking, peeping into women's baths, or wearing armor… how could anyone not get curious?"_

_...Ah. He remembered. It was shortly after the formation of the Seven Deadly Sins, during a mission where they had to go hunt some annoying beasts troubling people with their rampage. And then they have decided to camp there for the night, everyone was already sleeping but only himself and his best friend were awake, still drinking._

_It was the Fox's Sin of Greed, Ban._

_Taking count of his attitude, it wasn't surprising that he was curious about his green Dragon Handle, but how did he answered to that question again…?_

_"...It's like my stuffed animal, I guess."_

_...Okay, that wasn't the best excuse he could come up with, and it shouldn't be surprising that it didn't worked._

**_Let me give you a small warning…_**

_And for some reason there was a familiar voice that was intruding his dream, and being definitively not a part of his memories._

_"Does it have incredible magic power, or is it… a priceless antique?"_

_"It's neither. If you keep worrying about it, you'll go bald, Ban."_

_Actually it was both, but there was no way he could even say that._

_"It'll just be for a tinyyyy bitty bit…" And then his voice grew deeper, "'Kay? Let me see it."_

_The handle was gripped by a hand other than the of its owner, but before it could even leave its sheath…_

**_If you don't wake up soon and keep on lazing around…_**

_"Let go."_

_Both of them ignored Diane who just woke up and was questioning them over what they were doing._

_"Let go, Ban. ...Don't make me angry."_

_He decided to throw away all his nonchalant attitude and be serious for once, but it wasn't enough to stop his friend from continuing._

_"Aaaaangry…? You, Cap'n?"_

_See? Because of that, he seems to be more interested than scared. It worked against his wishes._

_"I've been with you for many years… but I've never seen you get angry once…"_

_The foreign hand on the handle refused stubbornly to let go of its grip._

_"Let go…"_

_"Besides, I'm curious as to why you're called the Sin of Wrath in the first place…"_

_He started to pull harder, and with both hands as his grin widened._

**_Not just the sword…_**

_"If you're saying you'll get angry… I just want to see the sword that much more… No… I want to steal it!"_

_'...Sorry, but this sword is…'_

**_You will also end up losing your precious princess, you know…?_**

_And with that Meliodas' eyes snapped open and took back the sword handle that was taken away from his grip as he heard the familiar sound of Elizabeth's scream..._

* * *

**A/N.: Here is the end of this chapter, I was planning to finish it earlier but it took me quite a while to complete it in the end, my sincere apologies for the wait. And also sorry if Trista didn't had enough action scenes.**

**By the way, the "Sleeping Beauty" mentioned in the chapter's title is indeed Meliodas, because I thought that putting the canon title "A Young Girl's Dream" didn't had much sense since Diane isn't the central character of this chapter.**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 6: **_"ovely and funny chapter, also quite nice fight trough i hope Triss' presence will take more butterfly effects. Can't wait for more and glad to be so considerated."

_**A.:**_ Thank you, I was worried at the beginning that it may be too boring if it's follow exactly the canon story or if it was distorting it too much, but hearing your praise makes me feel really happy! I hope that you will enjoy the rest too!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 6: **_"thanks godness, he isn't the travesty.

seriously, Gil boy... it's what you've been worried the most? I can laugh it off. The other one that make me laughing is when I read Trista's reaction to the Cocoa LOL  
I'm worried a bit though for Trista's reaction over Meliodas' words about enjoyable thing on her life and~ I'm curious as to what kind of misunderstanding Howzer will have here hahaha this is Howzer we're speaking about. I admit Howzer is one of characters in NNT that I like a lot"

**_A.:_** You can say that Trista's dark attitude is because of either her past either her personnality, it would eventually be revealed in the future. And about the misunderstanding, I hope that it wouldn't disappoint you but it's nothing serious, just Howzer thinking that Gilthunder overworked himself with his duties and that the stress caused him to hallucinate, or something like that.

_**\- ****Fannn'****s review at chapter 6: **_"i wonder if there'll be a shipping for Triss .. btw good job! it's great"

_**A.: **_Thank you! And about the ship, well... I am planning for something, all I hope is that you will come to like it!

**A early Merry Christmas to everyone (because I don't know wherever I'll be able to update before it), and please leave a review (once again)! (^^)**


	8. Baste Dungeon Arc - II

**A/N.: Happy late new year to everyone!**

* * *

Somewhere, at the borders of Britannia…

"Hm～, hmm～, hmmmmm～" The sound of someone humming a tune could be heard.

The one who did so was a young woman, she was of short height and seemed to be a foreigner coming from outside of Britannia judged by the curious style of her clothing, her clothes fluttering each time she walked.

Even though it should have attracted some attention, nobody paid attention to her, no one watched at her as if nobody seemed to even notice her presence

However the woman didn't cared about any of this and only looked forward, seeming to be in a particular good mood due to the smile seen on her face. "Fufu… Britannia, huh…? I never thought that I would go there one day…! How many years has it been? Is she doing well? That girl… Hahaha! I just can't wait to meet her again!"

* * *

**BASTE DUNGEON ARC - II : _Even if You Should Die_**

* * *

"...I won't let go of that sword that even if I die. This is the one and only thing I can do to atone my sins!" Meliodas now awake and standing between Elizabeth and Golgius with his hold firmly back on the Dragon Handle, as he declared so with a deep and serious voice unlike the one of his usual easy-going self.

An incredible aura was gathered and surrounded him, adding so much pressure around him that it push people instinctively backward from where they were standing, as if a wind was turning into a tornado and was blowing forcefully against them.

Shielding his face against the invisible wall that was suddenly pushing against him, Dr. Dana exclaimed in visible shock and confusion, "Impossible… How can he move after drinking so much of that deadly poison?!" Or rather it was even more shocking to see that he had survived something that mortal...

"Meliodas-sama?!" Elizabeth cried his name in surprise while Hawk squinted his eyes as he seems to have perceived something curious that nobody else had yet to. "What's with his eyes and that mark on his forehead?!"

The only one who remained fearless in this room as he keep onto tugging the handle towards himself, "Ehehehe… It doesn't matter what nonsense you spew out! I'm taking out this sword and the princess…!"

However soon Meliodas looked up, and...

**…!**

His eyes were pure black, and on his forehead, over his eyebrow, there was some kind of spiral-shaped black mark that appeared, his eyebrows were furrowed strongly and his lips were in a firm line.

Upon seeing this, Golgius felt the pressure around him even stronger and a chill running down on his spin, cold sweat on his forehead. Now all his earlier bravado gone, he did the first thing that came to his mind.

***CRASH!***

He jumped through the still closed window, making a human-sized hole in the glass and spreading many broken glass shards on the floor.

Hawk was the first one to recover as he immediately went to watch over the window, but couldn't see any signs of the man anymore, "He ran away!"

"Um… M-Meliodas-sama… right…?" While Elizabeth, her, asked hesitantly to the standing figure in front of her.

It was the same person that was laying on the bed, unconsciously, just not even a few minutes ago, and yet, here he is, standing on the ground in front of her, all of the sudden, in less of an eyes' blinking.

However the atmosphere was completely different, almost making him seems like a different person from the Meliodas she came to knew over these few days, he seemed, much darker now, and also ominous. For the first very time, Elizabeth may have been scared of him, and when he turned around she had to hold herself back from flinching in a mix of fear, anticipation and surprise...

"...Yo, Elizabeth… and pig bastard." Meliodas turned to them with his usual smile on his face, as if nothing happened, his eyes back to green and no visible mark on his face anymore.

It was as if his major change of earlier never occured to begin with it, that everything was the fruit of her imagination. Yes, she could almost imagine that it was the case, if it weren't for the human-shaped hole Golgius left in the closed window and the wind that was blowing through it.

Elizabeth then breathed in relief, her hand hovering her chest just above her heart, "Thank goodness, it's the usual Meliodas-sama!" All the matter of earlier was now out of her mind, she could only feel relief over the fact that he was safe, well and more than anything, back (not only just about his physical state).

Hawk, however, just tilted his head at the title Meliodas just gave him. "Pig bastard?"

However Meliodas just ignored the pig's words like he often does as he looked around him, not recognizing the place where they were, as he scratched his back and asked: "Hey, where are we?"

"This is Dalmary Town, near Baste Dungeon… We came here to treat your wounds…" Elizabeth explained, though she was worried that she may have not explained enough, Meliodas didn't said anything about that as he just hummed in thought, "Hm… And who was that weird guy just now?"

This time it was Hawk who took the turn to speak, "A Holy Knight named Golgius or something. It looked like he was after the princess and your broken sword. And it turned out that the shitty doctor over there was on his side…"

However when he turned around to look at the doctor who was here just before, his eyes widened upon seeing that there was nobody at that spot anymore, "What? He ran away! Let's go after him!"

"Wait…!"

"OWW!" Hawk cried in pain at the sudden, and surprisingly strong pull on his left ear, that halted him immediately and made him retreat backward, and the most shocking above all is that the culprit of such an action, isn't Meliodas (who would unsurprisingly often do that kind of thing) but the kind and gentle Elizabeth who seemed to be never able to even hurt a fly.

The princess scolded him as she still hasn't let go of his ear, "Meliodas-sama's wounds aren't healed yet!" Okay, now it was understandable, but still...

"E-Elizabeth-chan, it's hurt…!" She showed also more strength than how she looked.

Upon hearing her words, Meliodas checked his wound as he put a hand on his bandaged shoulder but then widened his eyes in slight surprise before taking off his bandages.

Elizabeth was quite alarmed about it when she saw it, wanting to stop him as his wounds weren't closed enough to take the bandages off, however Meliodas' next statement just threw her in confusion.

"...Huh? It's already healed." Indeed when the bandages all fell off on the ground, now released, the wound on Meliodas' shoulder had no more open flesh or leftover blood, but just a perfectly closed scar.

"E-Eh…? No way?!" Elizabeth immediately ran towards him and checked it herself by running her hand carefully over the scar. It was completely closed, even though that earlier it was pouring blood out so badly… But it should be physically possible for it to heal that fast in just a few hours!

_'Is this because of Meliodas-sama's own capacities? Or that the treatment Dr. Dana gave before poisoning him was so good? Or…'_

_"I just recited a charm in order to make him wake up faster."_

As Elizabeth was reminding herself of the differents possibilities for Meliodas' quick recovery, Trista's earlier words were brought back into her mind. Could it be it was her doing…? It would certainly explain why she was so sure that he was fine.

However, when she looked back up to Meliodas, she saw him looking at her quite strangely. When she wanted to ask about what was wrong, he beat her to the word, "What's gotten into you? You're quite assertive today!" He sounded both surprised, impressed and also somehow pleased.

It took a back time for Elizabeth's mind to register his words properly, because she was in such a rush earlier, she didn't noticed that she did something she wouldn't do usually, and when she finally realized it, her face was colored in a scarlet color.

"What?! No… It's not like that…!" She immediately let go of his shoulder but before she could retract her hand, Meliodas' caught her own and placed it on his muscular chest as he spoke with a teasing voice and a smile on his face. "You can touch me more, you know? Here, here!"

Suddenly she felt that it wouldn't be such a bad offer after all, but immediately became embarrassed by her own thoughts: "B-But that would be…"

"Alright, let's hurry and chase after them!" Hawk looked at them with half-lidded eyes as he spoke with a dry tone, "But change in your clothes first!"

"Yes!" Elizabeth immediately obeyed as Meliodas took up his shirt with one hand and put it over his shoulder before looking at the Dragon Handle in his other hand in silencious thoughts.

"...Say, Elizabeth." Meliodas said as he started to put his shirt on without stopping himself from descending the stairs.

"Yes, what is it, Meliodas-sama?" Elizabeth, who was walking just before him, stopped in her track at the sound of his voice and turned around before widening her eyes at the sight in front of her and before quickly averting her gaze away from him, her face blushing beet red.

She didn't realized much of it earlier, surely because the situation was too much in hurry for noticing that kind of thing, but once she caught a glimpse of his half-covered upper body, she couldn't help but remember what happened earlier. Even though it was out of worry, why did she something so bold and impolite as touching his body directly…!

_'Besides even though Meliodas-sama has such a childish figure, he is surprisingly… Wait, what on earth am I thinking about?!'_ Elizabeth clapped both her hands on her burning cheeks, trying to cool them down as much as possible, without much success however as she was ashamed by her own unpure thoughts (even though Meliodas always do worse things to her in daily case).

If Meliodas had noticed her reaction (which he definitely did of course), he had the kindness to not make reference to it and just asked instead, "Do you know where's Triss?"

This helped the princess to calm down from her fluster as she answered, still not facing him, but composed enough to answer him without stuttering. "Trista-san… Well, I don't really know what she wanted to do but she had some business outside and entrusted you in our care…"

"Hmm…" Meliodas hummed in thought.

'Well, technically it isn't a lie but I can hardly say to Meliodas-sama that he was poisoned…' Elizabeth thought with slight guilt. She didn't wanted to lie to him but she couldn't tell him that just a while ago they made the error to trust someone who tried to assassinate him for the task of treating his wounds.

While she thought that, Meliodas just looked outside before ruffling his hair in slight annoyance as he thought back at the words he heard in his dream. _'Dammit, Triss… What kind of person would wake other up by threatening them? Weirdo...' _It was surprising that he wouldn't wake up after such a thing...

* * *

And somewhere else…

"Acchoo…! …*Sniff*" Trista rubbed her nose with her index finger before looking around her in confusion and tilting her head as she saw nothing curious around her.

"How weird…" She mumbled, "Did I perhaps caught a cold…?"

However as soon the question left her mouth, she frowned and sighed about it,_ 'What on earth am I even talking about? As if such a thing is possible with this body of mine… But if so then why did I sneezed…? Don't tell me…'_

"AH!" As her thoughts reached a certain conclusion, "Could it be that someone is talking about me behind my back? ...And perhaps not about something good… I bet it's Meliodas! I will definitely get back to him for this!" While Trista declared so with so much confidence and without any solid proof…

(And during this same moment…

"Achoo!"

"Meliodas-sama?!"

...Another one sneezed.)

***Bbzzzzz...!***

"Oh, oops!" Trista stepped back from her original standing spot of a few feets away and avoided a spit of green-colored acid of a few inches of herself.

The acid flew and hit a nearby tree, unable to hit its original target, and melted a portion of the log with some smoke coming out of the chemical reaction.

"Ah, that's right, I completely forgot…" Trista looked at the army of purple insects flying in front of her, all ready to spit their corrosive poisons onto her. She then realized that she completely forgot that she was in a middle of a still unfinished task and scolded herself lightly for even allowing such a thing.

_'To think that I of all people could be distracted by a simple sneeze, how shameful…'_ She then gripped harder the handle of the liquid pot in her hand, then the mix inside started to boil at high-speed.

She then avoided another poison release before throwing a portion of the liquid at the flying insects, and when the two came in contact with each other…

***PSSSSSHHHHH!***

The insects released a pained cry before all of them started to develop something like bubbles on their outer shells, then it exploded and caught their bodies on fire, crumbled, and their cinders falling on the ground.

Trista watched the show with an unimpressed look on her face before humming in deep thought, "I see… So that's how it is, huh? So that's the reaction of a deadly poison has when they are being boiled to the point of evaporation…" She stated nonchalantly as if she was just observing the fruit of her experience… which she actually is.

Then she looked at the rest of the insects around her, not even caring about the rest of the corpses of the ones that were left drying on the ground as she uttered the next words: "Now… Shall we continue? Or are you guys going to surrender obediently?" At that moment, her eyes glowed ominously, her usually indifferent voice became cold, and in reaction the insects stopped moving for the first time.

* * *

Meliodas walked forward, with the intention to left the town. He had left Elizabeth where the corpse of Dr. Dana was supposed to be after the latter was killed by Golgius who declared that the former was no longer useful to him.

Meliodas then stopped once before throwing a look over his shoulder, looking at the way he just left through… if he were just to walk back this road, then he would found Elizabeth and Hawk still there…

_'No. I better not.'_ Just before he could move his feets towards that direction, he turned back and walked forward. He could only think that further danger would approach them if he were to continue on bringing her along.

The moment when she left his side to save the dying doctor was already a close call, but if it were because of such mistakes again that one day he wouldn't be able to protect her in time… He didn't even wanted to think about it.

_'But still, I wonder if I sounded too harsh back then…?'_ He thought back at what he said to Elizabeth back then. It was indeed his true thoughts (though without revealing everything) but maybe he could have expressed it a bit better. However, taking count of the girl's gentle nature, she would probably not hate him for it.

_'But still, it was something that was needed to do.'_ Elizabeth's kind nature and her recklessness that is linked to it could be fatal to her, if she were going to feel guilt for each causality on their way, then she wouldn't be able to keep on going further.

Besides he meant exactly what he said. Even if she were to stay here, he would still continue the travel without her but still following her wish, and also the hidden meaning in his words that she would never understand, so he hoped.

"Meliodas…"

"..." Hearing a familiar voice calling out to him, Meliodas looked up (he didn't even noticed when he looked down) and saw the person in front of him, the third person (and not pig) of their traveling group.

"Triss…"

"...Where are Elizabeth and Piglet?" She asked, noticing that he was alone = so neither of them were at his sides currently.

_'So even now she refuse to call Hawk by his name, huh?'_ Meliodas thought with faint amusement. Well, it's not like he couldn't understand the feeling of wanting to bully that arrogant pig, not that he was a bad guy at heart.

"Still at Dalmary, I'll be going to Baste first."

She then raised an eyebrow at this, "...Alone?"

"Yeah."

She then frowned. "...Are you going to left Elizabeth behind?"

The impact of her words made him almost lost his composure, even though it was as expected that she would ask such a thing, for some reason, her words were hardly something he could shake off easily. Saying exactly the situation as it is without even bothering to sugarcoat that truth with sweet, delusional allusions.

He swallowed hardly and then tried his hardest to make a nonchalant smile, "Yeah! It would be safer for her to be over there, and just in case, Hawk's there too!" His voice seemed to be normal, it didn't sounded weird from the earlier effort, and hopefully it would convince her.

"...You actually don't think that, right?"

_'No, actually I want her to stay by my side, but after that…'_

"What's making you thinks that, Triss?" His thoughts and words were the total opposite, he was wearing a smile that he didn't meant on his face, and he was so used to lie, and keep on lying, that it didn't hurt anymore, much to his own disgust.

However any kinds of lies or attempt to lie were always useless in front of this girl, he learnt it by 16 years long of relationship. But even so for some reasons, he couldn't help but continue on trying…

"...Because when she is not by your side, your smiles seems so fake."

See? Like that. She's always doing it like that.

Her face was now impassible, like some kind of impartial judge assisting at a trial. Her words sounding like the pure and only truth (about him at least) always acted as sharp white burning hot knives, stabbing him in his hearts and dragging out the dark feelings buried deep down to the light.

And he didn't like it very much…

He didn't minded being her talking partner, but only when she 'exposed' him like that, he felt like running away from her, from that piercing gaze that could see through every lie he tried to put as barriers. It didn't felt like she was looking at his face, but deep in his eyes, trying to drag out the truth he is trying so hard to hide…

Is that how a criminal feel when he is cornered? Meliodas could only wonder that. And that girl would make a perfect interrogator, without resorting to things like torture or anything like that of course…

She was perhaps the best one after Elizabeth… or perhaps even better than Merlin, to be able to see through him… and among the three, the time since he knew her was far shorter. But compared to the former which gave him a comforting feeling, the latter unnerved him, it made him uncomfortable, and it took most of his strength to not avert his eyes away from her and tell her to go away.

After staring at him for a while…

"...I see." Trista nodded as if she just found her answer. Without asking him anything further, just by looking at him like that.

"So, wanna go to Baste Dungeon together?"

"Stop saying things that you don't even mean, I am going to check on them, see you later Meliodas."

"Okay, see you later, Triss." And with that small farewell, she walked away…

When she was finally out of hearing and view, Meliodas let out a heavy sigh as if he had been holding his breath all this time and wiped off sweat from his forehead with his shirt's sleeve.

_'She even saw through that…'_ Indeed, he just said something that the 'usual him' would say and certainly not something that the 'current him' would do, the usual him who had the company of Elizabeth and Hawk to face her, but now that he was alone with her… If she had instead agreed to go with him to Baste, then would he be able to keep his façade on till the end…?

"...Triss… you're scary, you know?" It took too much for him to not even drop to his knees right now.

* * *

Elizabeth was still sitting at the same spot Meliodas left her earlier, in front of her the unresponsive Dr. Dana was laying there, unmoving, not breathing anymore, an open wound at his chest staining his white doctor attire in red and being in a pool of his own blood.

She convinced Hawk with a smile that she would be fine alone and he should go back to Meliodas. The pig, though filled with worry about her, agreed reluctantly to her request and left her alone, thinking that she would need some time alone. Elizabeth was grateful for the attention.

However then, someone else came and replaced the empty spot that the pig just left open...

"...Elizabeth?"

"...Trista-san…" Elizabeth looked up weakly to see the pseudo-witch hovering her sitting form by standing, she didn't even noticed when the girl was here, perhaps this showed how much she was immersed in her own thoughts.

The heterochromia girl just looked at Dr. Dana before looking down, "How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth widened her eyes in surprise, "...Aren't you going to ask what happened here?" She didn't expected such a question.

"I can somehow guess how it turned at least."

"...I see." Elizabeth then took a small time to think up of an answer. As expected, she couldn't force herself to smile and pretend that she is alright in order to not worry the others, because she is definitely not alright. Her eyes were puffed red from the tears, and she didn't had the strength to change her facial expression anymore.

So she answered honestly compared to her usual modest self, "...Horrible. I feel horrible, Trista-san…"

"...Do you hate me or him? For not being able to prevent such a thing despite being present."

"N-No, of course not, Trista-san! You weren't even here at that moment, and Meliodas-sama was busy protecting me so…"

"Then do you hate yourself?" Trista's bluntness and the way her tone and expression stayed the same surprised Elizabeth. If Hawk was there and he would be definitely angry over Trista's lack of tact in such a situation, however Elizabeth thought it differently, she didn't knew why.

But she was sure of the fact that the reason for why Trista didn't sugarcoated her words was definitely not for mockery.

So Elizabeth answered, and it was surprisingly far easier than what she had imagined, "...Yes."

"...About the fact that you didn't managed to save him? Or…"

"Well, there is of that too… but, more than anything…"

_'More than anything, I hate myself for being so naïve.'_ Elizabeth bite her lower lip as she trembled in frustration.

Being the sheltered princess that she is as Diane said (even she must admit it herself being such despite hating the title), she didn't wanted to accept such an outcome. She knew that the hostility between the Holy Knights and the Seven Deadly Sins, especially with her being at the center of it, would create some unavoidable conflicts, and even her pacifist self accepted that there are fights that cannot be avoided.

However the thought that Holy Knights who were taught since their youngest years as Holy Knight apprentices the code of chivalry, honor and pride would use such horrible means to get the Seven Deadly Sins, even drag innocent bystanders and villagers to participate in this affair was something she could never accept. Yet not everyone was kind enough to follow the tradition, some people of her own kingdom were cruel enough to use that kind of method.

Right now, just the smell of the blood was enough to make her feel like vomiting, but she can restrain herself now. She has never seen a life being slayed in front of her eyes before, Meliodas who properly was in such situation before didn't seemed much fazed, however it certainly doesn't mean that he didn't cared, he just choose to keep on going forward.

Which is the total contrary of herself who broke down and had her feelings wavering from a single stranger's death.

Meliodas was right to scold her over her attitude earlier. Elizabeth explained it to Trista and expected her to do the same, however the platinum-haired girl just asked her some questions and listened to her answers patiently, without the single sign of negative reaction to it. And for some reason it felt really reassuring, because of that, Elizabeth could continue on speaking her mind without any fear.

"I see… And what do you want to do from now on?"

"...What I want to do…" Elizabeth closed her eyes in thought as she tried to think up of an answer.

Meliodas told her that if her feelings keep on wavering like this, then she couldn't keep on going. And she was ashamed to even admit that that he was right, for a second she thought about going back to Liones in order to not create another death because of her fault.

However this wasn't the right thing to do, even if she were to do that, the atrocities committed by the Holy Knights would certainly not stop their previous doings before her escape, the people would continue to suffer because of them even though they finally got some of their freedom back.

Besides, she already found two of the Seven Deadly Sins, if she were to give up and go back like that then wouldn't everything that has been done up until now for nothing? Going back wouldn't help her suffering father to get better either, there was no one who could help him back in Liones.

"I… want to continue being with everyone." Not for the sake of continuing some fun travel, but for the very reason of why she left Liones in first place.

"I… want to become stronger." Physically it sound impossible for her to be able to defend herself against the Holy Knights if they were to come after her, so at least she would like for her heart to become stronger, so she would never slow everyone with her weak self.

Avoid any single causality would probably be impossible from now on, even with Meliodas' kind efforts in order to not kill any of them. It is a matter that she must accept. But the number can be lowered if they hurry and find the rest of the Sins. If so then there wouldn't be any more victims like Dr. Dana.

And...

_"Even if you were to die, I would fulfill my promise with you."_

_'I don't want Meliodas-sama to keep on going on such an harsh road all alone.'_ No matter how strong that person is, everyone have their own limits. Elizabeth finally looked up. Her gaze now filled with a new determination as she stood up, looking strong and unwavering compared to her earlier weak, trembling self.

Trista looked at her silently, "...Are you feeling better now?"

Elizabeth smiled, her smile was more real now than the fragile one of earlier, "Yes! Thank you very much for listening to my problems!"

"It's fine." Trista didn't seemed to notice how much of a help she was to Elizabeth, her usual curious presence was really comforting during that moment, she didn't said any comforting words neither she tried to comfort her, but she stayed here and listened, and it put Elizabeth at peace.

"Do you want to go after Meliodas?"

"Yes! But… That is…"

"Could it be that you don't know the way? He is heading towards the main road of the town so if you follow it you should catch up soon, I even asked Piglet to slow him down in order for you to make it in time."

("Oi, Hawk, what the heck are you doing, biting my pants like that?!"

"Iph Aii shloww yuuu daown…"

"I don't even get what you're saying! Seriously cut it out, my pants are going to be soaked by your saliva!")

"N-No, it's actually not about that…"

"...?" Elizabeth poked her index fingers together as she awkwardly averted her eyes from Trista, who just tilted her head on the side in confusion.

In fact, it wasn't that Elizabeth was still hesitating over her decision or anything, but it was just that after showing such a pathetic side of herself (which wasn't quite pretty much to her embarrassment), she felt a bit shy to go meet Meliodas like that, not that it would stop her from doing so or anything.

"I-It's nothing, ahaha…"

"If you say so…"

"Well we better hurry, otherwise Meliodas-sama may truly think that I would die." Elizabeth meant it as a joke to chase off her earlier blunder, however…

"Eh…?"

"...? Trista-san…?"

"What… do you mean… by that?" However Trista's reaction wasn't the one she expected, of course she didn't expected the usually stoic girl to burst out of laughter and instead hoped for her to retort to her poor attempted joke dryly like she usually does… However Trista was making an expression as if she had seen a ghost, okay not exactly, but at least something similar to it.

"Elizabeth… can you please explain?"

"S-Sure…" Elizabeth didn't noticed at that time, that she made another huge blunder.

* * *

"Elizabeth, sorry but go to Meliodas first, okay…? I doubt that they are going to attack here again but if so, don't be afraid and be sure to scream loud if you are in danger. Meliodas is still in the town so he would definitely rush to your side."

"U-Understood… But what about you Trista-san?"

"I have another thing to do, something important that I just remembered, I know that I don't have the right to say that after what I missed, but…"

"No, no! Of course not, I perfectly understand, please don't worry about it!"

"Thank you for your understanding."

"It's fine, then I'm going to Meliodas-sama and Hawk-chan's sides! Please be careful on your way too, Trista-san!"

"...Yes, you too."

* * *

Golgius groaned as he felt himself regain consciousness, the blow that he received from Meliodas previously was too strong that it knocked him for hours, he felt. Even now he could still feel the pain in his body, still heavy enough to paralyse his limbs and restrain his movements.

After a moment he managed to open his eyes weakly, blinking at the light and taking a few seconds to adjust his sight, for some reason it felt easier to breath and his sight wasn't limited by the darkness of his helmet…

Golgius blinked upon realizing that he didn't wore his helmet anymore, his position was apparently still left as it was like earlier when Meliodas hit him, so in a sitting position with a crater on the wall against his back, pieces of broken furnitures all around him and his arms and legs spreaded out like some kind of starfish.

"...Gah?!" He then yelped in a hoarse voice as he felt a sharp pain on his right eye (probably caused by the impact Meliodas made), he then tried to bring his hand to it in order to check how bad it was or if it needed any treatment, but he then felt surprise about how he couldn't even move a single limb.

At the beginning, he just thought that he was still numbing from the earlier shock. But then this thought turn into worry when he realized that he couldn't move his other arm either, neither his legs… and it turned into fear when he understood that all he could do was blinking and breathing, he couldn't even move his head and turn it around.

_'Wh-What on earth happened to me?! Are the damages that Meliodas gave me that serious?!'_ If so then he must inform his fellow teammates of the Weird Fangs to not underestimate the Seven Deadly Sins like they originally did, he lost because he did so after all.

But...

"Oh, so you finally woke, huh? You sure took your time, I was tired of waiting over here." However an unfamiliar voice said to him as he could now hear footsteps walking towards his direction.

He couldn't move his head further upward and look at who was in front of him, but could only see feets moving towards him along with the hem of a dress, and judging from the sound of the voice which wasn't deep enough to be considered as a male's, it was a woman.

The woman in question, or the girl, crouched herself in front of him, and then Golgius was able to take a good look at her appearance. A platinum-haired doll wearing a black frilly dress with a lot of white ruffles was in front of him, looking at him carefully with her heterochromia eyes of blue and green.

He stayed dazed for a while in response, and…

"Say… are you listening to me?" The girl spoke, as if she was unhappy with his silence.

Golgius thought at the beginning that it was a talking doll, but then realized the stupidity of this thoughts with that, and concluded that the girl was a proper human being like him.

_'The clothes she wear are without doubt from a high-price fabric akin to that of a lady from a noble family, and they certainly don't fit the commoner and simple air of this town. Maybe she is passing by this town…?'_ After these thoughts crossed his mind, he had to restrain a smirk from appearing on his face.

In contrast of the commoners who are undergoing the harshness of being ordered around by the Holy Knights these last few years, the nobles didn't had to go through such an experience as they are above in terms of social status or authority. So she probably isn't aware of their doings here…

"Good day to you, young lady. I am terribly sorry, if I could move then I would greet you in a more proper manner, but unfortunately, I am unable to move." He said with a polite smile on his face.

"It's alright, you don't need to do so."

"Thank you very much."

"From the look of that armor… are you perhaps, a Holy Knight?"

"Oh, what a smart observation, indeed I am!" In other times it would sound like some kind of sarcastic answer but to a noble, who had supposedly a big self-esteem, it would probably sound like a praise. After all those snobbish people liked to have their ego flattered.

"...I see, thank you for your answer."

See? It was already working! Now all he needed was to collect informations from her through his questions.

"Young lady, have you perhaps seen a young woman with silver hair and blue eyes wearing a revealing waitress uniform and a blond-haired boy with green eyes wearing a bartender's attire? If I remember well those two are followed by a pink pig."

"...Why such a question?"

"Young lady, do you know about the Seven Deadly Sins?"

"The Seven Deadly Sins… Criminals…" The girl muttered as she looked down, her bangs hiding her eyes from view.

Brightening at the fact that he didn't had to do all the explanation, Golgius smiled as he continued to speak, "Indeed, they are researched through all Britannia, the boy may not look like it but he is their leader, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath, Meliodas. And he had kidnapped the third princess of Liones, Princess Elizabeth."

Of course it was a lie, the princess left the kingdom on her own, but there was no way that anyone would know about that, it had yet and would probably be never declared publicly.

"...Kidnapped?"

"Yes. We believe that it may be an act of revenge towards the Kingdom who labelled them as traitors or even to use an hostage for his own needs. Ah, poor Princess Elizabeth, to think that she ended up as the victim of such an horrible man! She must be utterly terrified to even defy anything he says, which is why she didn't took the hand that we outreached to her!"

Of course this was false, too. No matter how he looked at it, the reactions of the princess only showed that she refused to go back on her own will and even held a deep attachment to the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins. However saying that would lower the credibility of his words down a lot.

"Which is why I would request your help, young lady. As you can see, due to a heavy wound from that vile Meliodas left me, I am unable to do anything. Can you then at least please…"

"Idiot…"

"...Eh?" Golgius didn't heard what she said so he made a sound of confusion, but then the girl finally looked up, and he froze in response at her next words.

"I was saying that Meliodas is such an idiot, giving you such a light wound. It wouldn't be a surprise for you to be able to go right after them right away so I took the liberty to paralyze your body."

"Wha…?!" Golgius's eyes widened in shock as suddenly there was a change in the person in front of him as he registered the words she just said in his mind and the smile disappeared from his face.

"And by the way, here is what I made you drink." She then showed a familiar vial to Golgius. The latter widened his eyes in a mix of horror, realization and fear upon recognizing it.

Seeing the reaction, the doll-girl just tilted her head on the side as if she was acting confused, "What's wrong? Isn't it the thing you had that doctor make right? The poison that you wanted to feed to Meliodas, if it's that tasty, why don't you drink some too?"

"Wa… GAAHHH…?!" And then in an instant, the vial was forced into his mouth with all its content pouring smoothly into his throat. Golgius wanted to resist however he couldn't move his body at all and trying anything else would end up with him choking.

When all the liquid had passed through, the girl pulled out the vial out of his mouth and threw it away on the ground, shattering the glass upon the contact.

Golgius choked on himself a bit before coughing out and gasping for air in a hasty manner, before he remembered what he was forced to drink with wide eyes what he was forced to drink and froze as he started to shake in realization as he was also reminded of the girl's previous words that he didn't paid attention to earlier.

'_Impossible, don't tell me…'_ He thought as horror started to fill his clear mind in contrast of his numb body, it could be that he was under a terrible misunderstanding, could it be, from the very start, that this girl was…

As if she just read his thoughts, the girl nodded, "Indeed. As you've thought, I happen to be their ally. Unfortunate for you, isn't it?"

"N-No… way…!"

Previously Gilthunder did said something about the rumor of the witch living underground being true and that this same one was with the Seven Deadly Sins, but since he didn't gave a specific physical description about her, Golgius couldn't recognize her at all. Surprisingly she wasn't with Meliodas and his group when Golgius was around, and besides, he thought himself that Gilthunder was just overreacting over some childish urban legend.

How wrong he was back then… He is now completely unmoving, and his life was dropping at each second due to the poison. If this girl was truly a witch then she would be able to use magic, and even though he should be physically superior to her, he couldn't do anything against her in his current state.

"W-Wait a second!" He tried to deal with her, "Please think about it carefully, how about you switch side from them to us? After all they are deadly criminals who are putting the entire kingdom in danger with their actions! What on earth do you want? The king can offer you whatever you wish for as a reward, so-!"

"...Do you understand your position?"

He froze immediately at the coldness of her voice and her gaze, it felt as if she was looking at an inferior being instead of an equal human. As a Holy Knight, he should have felt offended by such a rude attitude, but he cannot go against her, and this is probably why he felt scared. Just like a prey being eyed and cornered by its predator. And it gave him goosebumps and cold sweat all over and again.

"You, have your life hanging on a single thread by my hands, and you still dare to try and manipulate me? You have guts at least, I will admit it. But this isn't courage, more arrogance, and that wouldn't do." She then took out a small green ball with a white rune at its center.

"Th-This is…!" Golgius breathed sharply as he recognized the Incantation Orb possessing healing magic in it, even capable of curing poison. He was given a few of them for his mission by the Great Holy Knight Hendrickson. Did she took it from him when he was unconscious?

"I was surprised, you know?" The girl said but she didn't seemed to be so at all with her unchanging composed facial expression, "This item was made by HER of all people, from where did you obtained it? I certainly doubt that she would be handing them around"

"Her…?"

She raised an eyebrow at his confusion, "Could it be that you don't even know who made it? What a waste, then. In the end, throwing them around is the only thing you guys can do with it." Indeed her words made sense, Hendrickson gave them to him without explaining its source and only gave him short and simple instructions on how to use it. But there was no reason for him to doubt of his superior, especially if he is one of the two who protected the kingdom from the Seven Deadly Sins' attack 10 years ago.

"I am proposing you an exchange. Answer my questions, and I save your life. Refuse and you die. Simple, isn't it? I am giving you at least one minute to answer."

"A-As if! I am a Holy Knight of the Liones Kingdom! Never shall I betray-"

"Wrong answer." She then snapped her fingers once and then a spray of something fast just splashed near his face just after she spoke, in a blink of an eye.

Despite the fact that he couldn't move his body, Golgius could at least move his eyes, and he could feel a certain heat on the wall near his face along with a melting sound and some steam coming from it. He widened his eyes as he started to sweat a lot upon finding a small crater at the right side of his face. He then looked forward and then started to shake in fear.

"Come on, you still have some time left. I am willing to give you another chance but you better hurry, after all your life is dropping by each second, right?" Her eyes glowed as she stared at him in an ominous manner, the air around them grew thicker, darker and colder, exactly like when he was facing Meliodas, but however this time he couldn't even run away when he wanted to.

And moreover behind, her, were many large purplish-colored insects that he could recognize easily. It was because they were similar to the ones his fellow Weird Fangs comrade, Friesia was using. So powerful poisonous insects that can spit out highly corrosive and poisonous acid.

_'B-But, why on earth are they attacking me, the ally of their user?!'_ It was then that he noticed that there were weird luminous runes that looked similar to the ones on the Incantation Orbs, things that weren't present previously.

"D-Don't tell me… you…!"

"I was surprised, controlling beings that are already controlled by someone else is quite easy than put something with its own will under control."

"N-No way, but how on earth did you…?!"

***PSSSHH-!***

"E-Eeek…!" Golgius cried in fear as another crater opened near his face, missing his cheek by a few inches but close enough for him to feel the heat on his cheek.

"Another wrong answer. The one who ask questions is me, and the one who answer is you, that's all. What is so difficult to understand about that? I don't understand why, but it's surely the pressure that is making you panic, get a hold of yourself."

***Paf, paf!***

The girl in front of him was at the same time threatening him and yet slapping his head as if she was trying to make a broken machine work again. If this situation wasn't so life-threatening then he would almost find it comical. Besides his throat started to burn horribly from the inside, it was rather thankful that he couldn't move right now otherwise he would have scratched his throat open in reaction.

"It's seem that you start to feel the poison's effects, huh? And my patience is starting to run out… you still have 30 seconds left, now answer. That discussion is making us lost both our time."

Despite her deeds, the girl was unfazed, and that scared him. He knew that he, himself, was doing horrible deeds for the sake of his mission but was aware of it, however that girl wasn't bound to any duty, it was as if she was doing something casual so much she was natural at it. It was as if the one in front of him was not human and it frightened him to death to have such a one as opponent, especially if he can't even fight back.

Meliodas was already bad enough to begin with it, and now her?!

He couldn't stop his teeths from trembling as tears started to gather at the corner of his eyes, and he muttered in a voice that was totally unlike himself, along with words that he would never think himself capable of uttering: "P-Please… stop… help…" However saying that, was his error.

"...Help… you… you said?" The girl trembled but definitely not out of fear, her bangs were hiding their eyes once again as she repeated his words.

***Gogogogogogogogogo…!***

And with that the gravity pressure became far much stronger, enough to flatten him against the ground and make an even deeper crack on the spot he was sitting on. His body already hurt enough like that with the previous blows and the poison, but now it became even worst. He could barely stay conscious feeling both his mind and body being crushed at their utmost limit, enough to make him fall close to unconscious. "S-Stop…"

**"You, dare, to, ask, for, help?"** The intonation of the girl's voice changed, it grew far deeper and didn't sound human anymore. And with each word she uttered, the pressure was heavier. Her eyes glowed even more brightly in contrast of the dark air around them.

"I don't care if you used innocent people in your plans, but…"

***Crack…!***

**"_You made Elizabeth cry_…"**

***Crack, crack!***

**"_You dared to make Meliodas suffer_…"**

***Crack, crack, crack…!***

**"_Just that is enough to sign your death._"**

And with that, everything turned black for Golgius.

* * *

"...I overdid it a bit, didn't I?" Trista looked at Golgius who was now unconscious, laying on the ground, with his eyes rolled back and foam forming in his mouth.

Of course he didn't died from the poison, or rather there wasn't any poison to begin with it. It was just a bluff, she just made him drink a muscle relaxer medicine, using the vial that previously contained the poison (properly disinfected of course). But it worked too well, and also because of her small, yes, very small emotional conflict, she didn't even got the answers to her interrogation.

_'To think that things ended up turning like that… How embarrassing, for someone like me to become like that over personal reasons…'_ Thankfully no one was looking at her, she scratched her cheek slightly with her index finger. But then her slightly surprised expression turned back in a serious one, as she spoke to the now unconscious Golgius.

He wouldn't be able to hear her without doubt but despite that she still spoke. "Don't worry, no matter how much of a trash you are, I won't kill you. After all even if you are weak, you can become a valuable asset and resource for the upcoming war."

And with that she left, turning her back to him, he probably be found him later on, wherever it's by his comrade or someone else, it's up to his luck. Thanks to him, she was able to vent a bit of stress and feel more refreshed, just for that, she felt like she could be grateful to him.

* * *

**A/N.:**** Now a new mystery character had been added to the story, she would eventually appear in one of the later chapter, I hope that you will come to like her! Here is a darker side of Trista and her relationship with Meliodas! I hope that you liked it, and please review!**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 7: **_"I love it!"

_**A.:**_ Thank you as always XD

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 7: **_"Another hilarious chapter, her interactions with Diane are great. Always more curious about next sagas, merry Christmas and happy new year."

_**A.:**_ Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 7: **_"first of all, Merry Christmas too

hoho, smart girl Trista, you really know how to wake him up, eh? *chuckle

for this chapter, I'm more curious on the eyes who hiding on the woods"

**_A.:_** Sorry to disappoint you, but the ones hiding in the woods were just Freisia's insects, no new special characters or whatever...


	9. Baste Dungeon Arc - III

**A/N.: Hello everyone! I have decided to skip all the scenes where Trista doesn't appear or isn't mentioned otherwise it would be too long to make it simpler, sorry if it bother you! I also sincerely apologize for the lack of actions scenes about her and why it takes so much time for her to reveal her powers, but everything has a reason and I hope that you will be patient enough to wait for it to come, in the next arc, promised! School is starting again soon with some tests right at the beginning so I don't think that I'll be able to update this soon, I apologize for this.**

* * *

"Seriously. What a waste of time." Trista sighed as she walked back through the way she just walked through earlier, walking back on her earlier steps.

She walked and walked before something caught her eyes. It was the plaza where she met up with Elizabeth earlier. And there was the corpse of the doctor still being there in a pool of his own blood that started to dry up and stain the ground, untouched by anyone, unfound by anyone.

Trista heard from Elizabeth that this doctor tried to kill Meliodas in exchange for the Holy Knights to release their hostage who happened to be his daughter. Though his actions were questionable, he didn't had any ill intention. But she didn't felt any pity towards his ending, if he decided to try to kill someone, then he should be prepared to suffer a similar fate no matter his reasons.

Besides being betrayed is always possible, it was just that he was too panicked to have even understood that, not that he could have done anything even if he was prepared. This was the difference between people devoid of power and people having power, villagers and Holy Knights.

She was about to leave him, but just before she could even move a single step…

Elizabeth's crying face came to her mind.

_'...I am such an idiot.'_ Trista cursed herself as she once again traced back her steps and moved towards the corpse.

There was nothing she could do, he was dead, and nothing could bring dead back to life, at least nothing can do so normally in her knowledge. But even so, she should at least give him a proper burial or announce his death to the people of his surroundings. She was filled with such thoughts as she kneeled behind him, not caring about dirtying her dress or whatever. But…

"What…?!" Even she couldn't hold back her surprise at what she was seeing, her eyes and mouth were wide open in shock.

After all how could that be possible?! It was his heart that was pierced by a sword, it should have stopped since long time ago due to the hole wide open in it that let all the blood flow out, but if so why on earth…?

"I guess from that shock that it isn't your doing, right?" ...An energetic and cheerful voice belonging to a woman.

Trista widened her eyes upon hearing a voice nor a presence she didn't expected, "...?! Who's there?!" Trista turned around, feeling something grazing her cheek along with something that landed right near her feet at a high speed without even her noticing. She widened her eyes even further upon seeing that it was a piece of paper ornated with drawings. Yes, it was paper, yet it was planted in the ground like a sharp arrow. Even now she could feel the slight cut on her cheek caused by it.

But then Trista widened her eyes upon recognizing the symbol, or rather the letters written on the middle in oriental style, though foreign to this land, she could recognize its meaning.

_**'Explode,'** that is..._

There was not enough time to disassemble it nor to evade it, so Trista just shut her eyes closed and crossed her arms in front of her face in a défensive manner, waiting for the upcoming impact to blast her away, but...

_One second..._

_Two seconds..._

_Three seconds..._

"...Nothing is, happening?"

The said woman, or rather girl, walked out from the shadow and smiled, "It's rare for you to be so unfocused on your surroundings, for someone as careful as you are it can be fatal, you know?"

"You…" Trista's eyes widened as she recognized the person in front of her, small girl with red eyes and slightly tanned skin with chestnut-brown short hair, in a rather foreign and extravagant clothing.

Shining red eyes enlighten the darkness of the forest before the woman/girl launched forward towards Trista with an amazing speed and closed their distances in a wide step before saying with a wide smile on her face, "I've finally caught you!"

* * *

**BASTE DUNGEON ARC - III :_ Towards the Prisoner_**

* * *

Friesia stared forward, towards Dalmary, from her current position which is at a good distance away from the town and closer to the Baste Dungeon, such a location was chosen in case where the member of the Seven Deadly Sins imprisoned here would try to escape again, it would also be the place where the current assembled members of the Sins would go in order to free their comrade.

Such a place can also hide her from being seen by her enemies and such being targeted by them, it was not a problem for her as in contrast of her comrades, she didn't used a power that needed to be close distance of her enemies in order to work.

Everything was going smoothly according to their plans and the pieces were indeed moving in the way they originally wanted, yet she couldn't help but be slightly displeased over something she couldn't understand.

"What's wrong, Friesia?" A childish boyish voice called out of her as she heard footsteps walking towards her.

She sighed and then turned her attention to him before frowning at the sight. No matter how she looked at him, he looked like a small shepherd boy, with a wooden staff and a bell being tied to it. It would be hard to think that such a small boy was actually a fellow comrade of her group.

"Cut it out, Ruin. Meliodas and the princess aren't here yet, for now return to your original appearance. Seeing a kid speaking like an old man is quite disgusting."

"To think that such a small thing can bother you, well whatever. Apologies then." The boy she called Ruin then tapped lightly the end of his staff on the ground, making the bell ring with a single chime-like sound.

***Chiriinnn—***

And with that the form of the boy started to waver before reforming itself in the form of a fairly large and tall man armored from head to toe, towering over normal-sized people, his whole appearance changed, leaving only the staff in his hand as the same.

His voice was back to a gruffy and deep male one, one of an adult as he spoke. "Here, better now?"

"Yeah." As Friesia nodded, Ruin then asked, "So now, what with the weird face you were making earlier?"

"Huh…?"

_'Wait, how can he even tell… Ah, that's right.'_ Friesia now noticed after touching her face with her hands to confirm what he was saying, that unlike Ruin, she took off the armored helmet that was covering her head, she remember doing so when she was taking her break. Which is why he could tell how she was feeling, because everything was showing itself on her face.

Then she remembered about the question, "Ah, well… I was just thinking that maybe something's strange was going on…"

"Something strange?"

She didn't needed Ruin to ask her so in order for her to explain the meaning behind her words, they were comrades for a long time, long enough to understand that kind of thing without saying it.

"It's just that… there hasn't been any news of Golgius since the attack I send on Dalmary."

"I don't understand about what you are worried for. It isn't unlike Golgius to keep secrets from us even if he is working together with us. Besides as long that he is coming at the Baste Dungeon as promised, everything is fine, right?"

"You are right…" It wasn't like she was doubting about Golgius' capacities, and Ruin's words were perfectly plausibles…

_'However there is just something weird which I can't place my finger on…'_ Friesia didn't told Ruin, but she actually send another wave of insects a little after the first one that had miserably failed thanks to the intervention of Diane who killed all the insects in one try (but created a diversion long enough in order for Golgius to follow the princess back to Meliodas).

But this was where it was strange.

If her insects were destroyed like the first time, then as the one who controlled them she could have felt it. If they were still alive and going around then she could receive a response from them.

However she just lost contact with them, as if the binding spell she placed on them was lost… no, it wasn't lost, but rather it seems that she couldn't contact them anymore, as if they were currently busy with something else, to not answer her. As if her commands had been overwritten…

_'...No, I must be overthinking.'_ Friesia just shook her head at her own thoughts in order to chase them away before turning back to Ruin, "Say, Ruin, what about that giantess that was heading towards Baste, did you…"

"Yeah, I have already put her under my illusion, it is now only a matter of time before she run into the princess and the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"I see, so everything is progressing as we have planned, right?"

"Yeah, which is why, I still don't understand why you were worried about that."

"...It's not like I was worried or anything."

_'That's right, there is nothing to worry about… nothing at all…'_ As if she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Ruin, Friesia repeated those words all over and again in her mind before putting back her helmet on her head.

Now things were truly going to get started, with luck the two Seven Deadly Sins members would just destroy each other on their own, unaware of anything...

* * *

Elizabeth didn't knew what to do anymore. She watched horrified that for some reason she didn't understand, she couldn't manage to understand, Meliodas and Diane were fighting each other right now.

Fist clashing against sword, pillars of earth popping out suddenly from the ground before being sliced into rubble, a large giantess against a boy of a small stature, yet despite their sizes being so different, their strengths seems to be equal, perfectly matched as they were countering each other.

She remembered that at the beginning, she managed to catch back Meliodas and Hawk and managed to make up (though they were not exactly fighting or anything) with the former. She had been quite moved by Meliodas' kindness to go save Cenette (the deceased doctor's captured daughter) before his Sin comrade. On their ways to Baste Dungeon, they had encountered Diane on their ways, though… she was kind of weird.

At the beginning, she seemed to be confused about her surroundings but they managed to talk her out, however suddenly she suddenly reacted violently and started to attack them, calling them 'Holy Knight' as if she wasn't even seeing them properly. Meliodas said that she was probably under the enemy's influence.

After that they encountered a pair of shepherds when they were running away, a father and son that Meliodas both saved from Diane's rampaging. But it was later that things turned even stranger. After entrusting them to Elizabeth's care, like Diane, Meliodas became unable to see or hear anything else and started to attack Diane too.

..._Even though they once managed to come back to their senses when she shouted at them to stop, why did they ended up starting again_…_?_

However if those two couldn't protect the shepherds from the Holy Knights, then Elizabeth will be the one to do so. She had decided so when she strengthened her weakening determination back then, that even if she were to put her life on the line, she would use it in order to protect the innocent suffering people, for the sake of her kingdom, but also to honor her promise with Meliodas.

Even if she cannot fight, her body can at least still be used as a shield to protect those people, this is why she marched without hesitating into that spiralling tornado of insects that Friesia launched around that innocent child. She didn't cared about her body getting hurt, many scars appearing on her white skin along with the blood that was bleeding out of it. She bore the pain without shedding a tear or letting out a cry, however when she finally managed to reach the center of it, reaching out the little boy who had been crying and trapped inside…

_"Hum… It's admirable that you would even put your body in harm's way to protect a child… but reality is harsh."_

However then it was revealed that all of it was an illusion. The child she tried so hard to protect was none other than the Holy Knight's illusion, the one who put both Meliodas and Diane under his spell, who made them unable to recognize each other and fight a comrade wearing an enemy's appearance.

Once again, the princess felt herself be close to despair. But this time she didn't gave in. She latched onto the Holy Knight in order to find a way to turn both the Sins back to normal and also in order to stop him from hurting anyone further. He had already hurted Hawk badly earlier, to the point that Elizabeth couldn't understand anymore what the pig was saying (but she could at least understand that he was worried about her, taking account of his tears and all).

The Holy Knight kicked her away in the stomach, making her rolling on the ground a few times before laying there. Elizabeth tried to stand up on her shaking body despite having a very hard time to do so, having an idea on what to do next instead of charging forward.

And then she saw the Holy Knight about to strike at her with his staff again, she braced herself and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact to come, but...

"GAAHH?!"

"Wait a second, Ruin?!"

Upon hearing the unexpected cries of the two Holy Knights, Elizabeth who had been trembling with her eyes closed, opened them reluctantly and then blinked at the sight before widening her eyes in surprise.

_'Wh-What on earth happened?'_ Only shock came to Elizabeth as she witnessed the sight before her.

Before she even knew it, the Holy Knight Ruin was laying on the floor, as if something hard collided with him and made him lost his balance. And then she noticed.

"Do something about it, Friesia!"

"I'm trying but it doesn't work at all!"

Both Holy Knights were surrounded by insects, enormous purple-colored insects that looked like the ones that Friesia was using in her Storm Rondo earlier, however they were far larger than those smaller insects, and there were for some reason weird luminous symbols on their foreheads. From the look of it, those insects weren't their allies, but are they hers?

"Damn it! What on earth happened to them, why don't they listen to me?!" Friesia tried to use her whip against the insects but none of them reacted to her orders. She then called forth many other insects that surrounded the larger ones and they started to fight against each other.

"Oi, send some of them over here too!"

"Well sorry, but I'm already busy enough here, use your illusions or something against them!"

"Unfortunately, I can't reach my staff!" And that was how the two Knights' teamwork came to an end.

Elizabeth then gasped back to awareness upon hearing those words. _'That's right, the staff!'_ She noticed that Ruin was separated from his staff of a few meters, and that both him and his comrade were currently too busy to fend off the scarily large insects to be able to reach it.

_However will those insects switch their attention to her if she were to move so suddenly…?_

_'Get a hold of yourself, me! Now isn't the time to hesitate!'_ Scolding herself for her even the slightest hesitation, and swallowing back the fear that was about to come out with her newfound courage, Elizabeth managed to stand up on her shaking legs and ran forward, towards the spot where the staff was laying.

"Wha…?!"

"Wait a second, you…!"

Elizabeth could hear the knights' protests but she ignored them, they were currently kept busy and it gave her a chance to act. So she grabbed the staff, eyeing the bell on it carefully.

Now that she thinks carefully about it, each time before Meliodas or Diane were under the effect of the illusion, there was always the single sound of a bell that rang before that happen.

Besides when Ruin was disguised as a little boy, for some reason the bell didn't rang at all when he was moving, running, or even when he was hitting her despite being moved around so violently. However it did rang when he dissolved the illusion, as if it was only reacting when he was using magic.

Of course the possibility that her thoughts were wrong, but now this small possibility was the only thing she could bet on actually.

However, she didn't had enough physical strength to break it with her own strength, so Elizabeth decided to try another method. Upon noticing a large rock nearby, Elizabeth kept a tight grip on the handle of the staff before smashing its head, that was carrying the bell, against the rock with all her strength.

***PANG!***

Such a sound reasoned and the impact that was thrown back to her, sending what seemed to be an electric shock through her arms up to her shoulders, numbing them by the same occasion as she held back a yelp of pain. It didn't seemed to be enough so, Elizabeth tried many times again, as much as her arms could allow her to.

Then she heard a breaking, metallic sound, before looking down at the bell on the staff. The chain that was attaching the bell to the staff had many cracks on it.

_'If it's like this, then maybe even I can break it on my own now!'_ Elizabeth grabbed the staff and the bell before forcefully pulling both of them, each on opposite side, with all her leftover strength. She gritted her teeths and felt her nerves harden themselves, her burning hands now felt freezing, but despite that she didn't stopped, and...!

***Clang!***

Elizabeth felt her freezing fingers burn at some moment but then she heard a crack at the staff before feeling the link between the two objects she held in her hands being separated.

She opened her eyes wide before noticing that she managed her feat, the bell was now fully separated from the staff and Elizabeth smiled in relief, feeling her legs give in as she ended up falling on the ground, with all her strength leaving her.

_'Thanks goodness… with that… Meliodas-sama and Diane-sama would be fine from now on...'_ She didn't even had further strength to wipe off the sweat that was dripping down on her face. However then she noticed two shadows hovering her form, being reflected on the ground and her smile fell.

"You sure did it, didn't you, Princess…"

"Seriously, it took time but we finally cleaned up those annoying insects."

Elizabeth recognized those voices as Ruin's and Friesia's, however she didn't even had enough strength to turn around, she didn't even had enough strength to fight back, she couldn't move anymore even though she wanted to. The adrenaline that she felt earlier, rushing through her body, now had completely quiet down. All that was left was exhaustion.

_'I am sorry, Meliodas-sama…'_ With that last one apology in her mind, Elizabeth closed her eyes and felt her mind being surrounded by darkness...

* * *

"Damn that Princess! How dare she...! ...?!"

"...No, how dare YOU?"

* * *

"Mm…" Suddenly feeling a wave of warmth going through her body and the pain disappearing, Elizabeth's eyelids fluttered slightly before she opened her eyes. And the first thing she saw was...

"ELIZABETH-CHAAAAANNNN!" The nose of a very rosy and healthy pig, crying waterfalls splashing against her face.

She yelped in surprise at the beginning before recognizing this voice and asked in surprise, "H-Hawk-chan…?!"

"Cut it out, she is getting wet."

"Pugyaa?!" And suddenly the pig was pulled back with a single swing. And the one who did so was none other than…

"T-Trista-san…?!"

"The one and only. But it seems that I have a knack for missing all you guys' important scenes, don't I? It was as if I was just a supporting character, it makes me feel all conflicted."

"H-Huh…?"

"However I have a proper excuse, as the reason for why I am late today isn't my fault but someone else's."

"T-Trista-san?"

"Don't worry, just talking on my own. Rather than that, Elizabeth. How do you feel?"

"I… Huh? I…" Elizabeth felt confused when she was able to sit up so easily. As if she wasn't wounded at all, and then she looked over her arms and legs, all the cuts and bruises she had were now gone, as if none of them were present to begin with.

Elizabeth was surprised at the beginning before her expression turned more worried as she wiped her wet cheeks from Hawk's tears (it felt weird that it wasn't her own) as an embarrassing possibility came to her mind.

"No way…" She murmured, "Don't tell me that everything was a dream!" She didn't slept through the whole thing, did she? Or was she still under the illusion?!

"What are you even talking about? Check your clothes, they are all tattered, how can that it a dream? Besides this one can vouch for you." Trista pointed at Hawk who was looking at Elizabeth with shining eyes, "Elizabeth-chan you were so cool~! But please don't do that kind of reckless thing ever again, I was really scared for you!"

The mix of praise and scolding made Elizabeth laugh slightly as she reflected on her actions, "I understand, I am sorry for worrying you Hawk-chan."

The pig sniffed in relief, snot still coming out from his nose.

_'Huh…?'_ Now that Elizabeth noticed it, the severe wounds that she had witnessed before she fainted were nowhere to be seen too.

"Um… Excuse me, Trista-san, about our wounds…"

"Ah, I used a useful magic tool that contained a healing spell on both of you in order to heal your wounds, otherwise it would make moving difficult after all."

"E-Eh?! You had such a powerful item with you?!"

"If so why didn't you used it earlier?! There were many times when we needed it you know?!" Elizabeth was surprised while Hawk puffed in annoyance, he could even remember how many times he thought that he was going to end up as a roasted pork, and there were a lot of those times where such an useful item would be needed!

Trista just looked as unfazed as ever before she shrugged her shoulders, "I just acquired it a few hours ago." No need to say that she stole it from a Holy Knight she crushed down (quite literally).

"Geez, still you could have told us at least before using it, I was really worried about what it was, you know?! You just stood there, gestured me to come closer and threw it silently on the ground!"

"Well it was faster than explaining everything one by one."

"But still…!"

...And here they go, completely forgetting about her and starting arguing on their own again, Elizabeth felt herself sweatdrop at this as a wry smile grew on her face.

"And to say the truth, Meliodas was the one who was the most worried among us, far more than you."

"Well… I can't deny that…"

At that moment Elizabeth widened her eyes, "Eh…?" Meliodas was there?

"He cleaned up both the Holy Knights immediately on his own, we didn't had to do anything at all."

"I knew him for 10 years but I have never seen him make such a face before, it was kinda scary, pugo!"

"U-Um… Trista-san, Hawk-chan…?" Both girl and pig turned to her, watching her silently as if waiting for her to continue to speak, so Elizabeth decided to do so. "Wh-What do you mean by 'Meliodas-sama'...?"

"Ah, that's right, you were still unconscious back then, huh?"

"You missed something amazing, didn't you Elizabeth-chan? What a shame, if only you had seen it…"

"Like I said, about what…?" Even Elizabeth started to feel impatient about it.

The girl and pig shared a look before turning back to her and answered, ""When he saw your bloodied figure, Meliodas literally snapped.""

"...Eh?"

"Even though he said that he and Diane should take care of one Holy Knight each, he threw all plans away when he saw you there, taking both of them to himself and he refused to say nor hear anything."

"He is still beating the shit out of them over there."

Elizabeth looked at the direction where they were looking at before wincing a bit at the earthquakes she felt from there, she could barely see anything but she could feel the earth tremble at each impact on the ground, and smokes coming from there. Diane's quite visible orange outfit could also be distinguished.

"O-Over there, Meliodas-sama is…?"

"And he's been keeping like this for one hour already…"

"Eh?!" Elizabeth's head quickly turned to Trista, looking at her as if she was waiting for her to reveal that her words just now were just a joke, but as always, the doll-like girl's face was unchanging as if she was wearing some kind of mask. She then looked at Hawk for an answer, but the pig didn't showed his usual exasperated expression.

_'Could it be it's really true…? But still…'_ It felt still quite incredulous. She knew that Meliodas' physical abilities are top-notch, even superhuman… but for him to keep on repeating the same act over and again during a whole hour? What on earth can be pushing him to do so far…?

_'C-Could it be… that he was angry for my sake…?'_ Elizabeth's cheeks started to redden at the possibility, but she soon shook her head off of that idea. Though it made her slightly hopeful, she couldn't even imagine such a thing herself. There was simply no way for the great person that he is to worry about the burden that she is.

_'It's surely about the fact that he was forced to fight his precious comrade, Diane-sama.'_ Besides even if he were angry for her sake, it didn't meant that she was a special person to his eyes, Meliodas was just a kind person who would help anyone in need, wherever it's a comrade he knew since a long time or just a recently encountered stranger. But that was also one of his good points…

"Well, Holy Knights should at least be able to endure this level, so I guess it would be fine to let him continue for a bit."

"No, no, no! Please stop him soon, will you?!" Elizabeth frantically exclaimed as she stood up suddenly. The way that Trista was seeing things make her feel slightly worried, both for her own sake and the poor Holy Knights who were still getting beaten up over there, the thought of that continuing was enough to get Elizabeth turning slightly blue over the face as she imagined the scene while trembling slightly.

However when she stood up, she felt a slight vertigo that made her stumble a bit. Elizabeth frowned in confusion, even though her wounds were healed, her body still felt as heavy as ever.

She turned to Trista for further explanations (since she seemed to know about the effects of the magic tool she just used), and as if she knew that this would happen (she seems to know a lot of things though), Trista answered without missing a beat: "Though it had healed your injuries, it didn't helped your exhaustion at all. Seriously, what's the point of making such a half-baked thing…?"

"Err… Trista-san?" Of what on earth is she talking about? Did she perhaps knew the one who made it? Or rather, it wasn't her who made it…

"Please don't ask, the inside of my mouth would turn sour just by explaining it." Trista seemed to be unhappy about it, taking account of her rare scowling expression and the large frown on her face, but it made Elizabeth even more curious.

_'If you don't want to talk about it, why did you brought it up first?'_ Elizabeth couldn't help but note that Trista was a little bit (if she is polite enough) of an unreasonable person, it seems that she didn't even noticed herself but she was often contradicting herself.

Trista looked over the source of the previous noise that has now quieted down, "It seems that they are finished over there, so maybe we should go too." She stood up from her crouching form before sending a look at Elizabeth.

"Wh-What is it?"

"...Are you coming too?"

"...!" Elizabeth widened her eyes at Trista's words while Hawk frowned unhappily as he protested, "What are you even talking about, Trista?! Though Elizabeth-chan isn't in pain anymore, didn't you said she was still exhausted?! There's no way we can let her come with us!"

"I did said that, however I don't remember even asking your opinion, Piglet."

"Pugyaa! You're always like this!" Hawk puffed in anger as he turned to the still silent Elizabeth as he said this to her, "There's no need to listen to her Elizabeth-chan, she is as stubborn than that reckless Meliodas! Come on, let's go back to Dalmary Town and let you rest over there, I'll even carry you if you want!"

The pig was looking at her in an expectant manner, thinking that she was going to agree with his words. And Trista's gaze which had never been once on Hawk since then, was looking straight at her, waiting for her to answer too.

Elizabeth took the time to think carefully about it. Indeed if she were to go back like Hawk said, then she wouldn't slow them down anymore and they won't be forced to protect her too. This may indeed be the best choice, but…

_'Back then, I… have already made up my mind after all.'_ That she would follow them, if she were to get in the way then she would run and hide in a safe place while the whole matter is over. It may be cowardly but it's would be the best, and just like what happened just now, there are even times when she can prove herself to be useful, that she can help them and not only hinder them.

If she were to go back now, then it would destroy all her hardwork as if it were nothing, besides…

_'Trista-san said "Are you coming", and not "go back".'_ The doll-like girl, unlike Hawk or Meliodas, had witnessed the moment when Elizabeth hardened her will and strengthened her determination. So she wouldn't force her to go back unlike the others, and she is waiting for Elizabeth to voice her answer on her own, without anybody influencing her. Does that mean that she was more a part of the group than before, that even for just a little bit she was being truster? Though it may sound arrogant for Elizabeth to feel so, she felt honored about that, and out of gratitude…

She gave a smile and said: "No, Hawk-chan, I am going with everyone, and even if they don't want me around, I'll still follow them!"

"Wha…?!" Hawk opened his mouth and eyes widely and gave her an incredulous blank look, of course he would, the usually obedient and reasonable Elizabeth was going against someone's decisions so frankly and openly!

Trista seemed to be satisfied with this, as she nodded once. "It's better than having you being kidnapped during our absence."

In normal times, Hawk would answer this with a 'Have some tact, you swine!'... but unfortunately, his brain is on pause right now due to shock so he isn't being responsive at all.

"Then let's go, it's better to arrive earlier than have Meliodas continue to rampaging. Let's let them know that you guys are fine now."

"Yes! Ah, but Trista-san…"

"What is it?"

Elizabeth looked slightly hesitant as she asked, "W-Was it really fine to use such an important magic tool on me…?"

"It was one-use only, it had already disappeared."

"EH?! No way, I am sorry!" If she knew then instead of herself, it would have been better to either use it on Meliodas or Diane (for some reasons, Hawk was strangely durable, so he should be fine with it, right…?). Now she felt slightly apologetic about it.

Trista tilted her head on the side upon hearing her words, "...Did you wanted to keep your battle scars?"

"Eh? Well… N-No, you are wrong!"

"If you say so…" And thus after dissolving the slight misunderstanding, both Elizabeth and Trista marched to join where Meliodas and Diane were (and hopefully, the two Holy Knights who may still be alive).

"E-Elizabeth-chan is… Elizabeth-chan is becoming a delinquent…!" It seems however that they completely forgot about Hawk who was still standing at the same spot, unmoving and having lost all his colors, on the point of dissolving into dust and having a ghostly expression on his face.

(At midway on their roads, Elizabeth noticed this and hurried back to bring him back while dragging Trista behind her.)

* * *

"Ah... Captain, they are here."

When the girls (and the now revived pig) arrived at the plaza of the Baste Dungeon, they heard Diane said such a thing, she had probably seen them coming from afar and then told Meliodas about it. However she widened her eyes upon seeing Elizabeth.

Elizabeth took a glimpse at the plaza, there were craters almost everywhere on the ground and some towers were completely destroyed, leaving only rubbles leftover, she couldn't even recognize what kind of place it used to be due to how much it got destroyed. And over there, there were two unconscious (hopefully) Holy Knights with their armors crushed full of cracks, and Meliodas who stood up after cleaning his hands up from the dust.

Elizabeth couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor two unmoving forms even though they were the reason she was wounded so badly or because of their bad doings, she thought despite that they didn't deserved such an awful treatment. But saying so would bring some oppositions from the others and create another argument so she thought it would be better if she were to stay quiet right now.

Then her gaze met up with Meliodas', and…

"..." Meliodas' eyes widened just like Diane's upon seeing her.

However after holding his scrutinizing gaze for a few seconds, Elizabeth started to feel shy about it and averted it before looking down with slightly rosy cheeks, she could even hear Diane humms in disapproval but it's not like she could do anything about it!

She heard footsteps approaching her and looked up reluctantly. And once again she met Meliodas' gaze, but this time she felt more calm about it… surely because the expression that Meliodas was making couldn't be called calm at all. Of course he wasn't shouting nor was he throwing a tantrum, but he was just there looking at her in a shocked manner, as if he had just seen a ghost or something impossible.

"M-Meliodas-sama…?" Elizabeth tried to call out to him, but it didn't broke him of his trance. Now he was approaching her further as if he was only seeing her and nobody else anymore, and she could even feel herself blushing again. It was as if now there were only the two of them in this world, and…

_'And this is absolutely impossible!'_ Elizabeth tried to calm down her raging heartbeat despite the poor results, as she couldn't even move at all even though it was her own body and that no magic was controlling her, she was pretty that she couldn't blame it on her exhaustion either.

The butterflies in her stomach didn't stopped either and on the contrary, her face was burning up to the point that if a drop of water were to fall on her cheek right now it would immediately evaporated itself, Diane was glaring and here he is, trying to reach his hand to touch her cheek, and what should she do if he were to feel the burning heat on her cheeks with that, or rather what is he even trying to do with such an action, won't it make them feel awfully intimate and all? And here his hand is only one centimeter from her cheek—

"Ahem." And with that, just like the sound of a glass shattering into thousand of shards, a (fake) cough interrupted the moment just between them. The one who did so was none other than our favorite Not-Witch doll-like girl, a fist close to her mouth and looking at them with a flat gaze.

Elizabeth felt as if the time that stopped started to move again, as she quickly took a few steps back (now able to move her body again mysteriously), the blush still present on her face and now even reaching her ears as she silently averted her gaze from anyone who may see her and only that (though doing such a thing ended up making her face Diane's unpleased glare, which was worst, she ended up regretting it at that moment).

Meliodas retracted his hand in silence, still dazed. Trista sighed at this before walking away, "I refuse to see anymore than this." She said.

Those words made Elizabeth blush deeper, realizing that everyone saw everything which only add further to her already high embarrassment. The fact that Hawk was still too dazed to offer any supplementary comment was already a blessing itself.

Then Elizabeth's gaze trailed over Diane who happened to be close to her, the giantess' purple eyes meeting her own blue ones. Elizabeth expected the giantess to voice out her displeasure about how (physically) close Elizabeth had gotten to her beloved captain (even though he was the one who approached her), but strangely she was only fidgeting on her side.

_'I wonder what on earth happened to Diane-sama…?'_ Elizabeth was about to ask what was wrong, but she didn't had the time to since Trista spoke before her.

"Though I hate to interrupt like I did earlier, I believe we have more important matter to attend to, and it's better if we hurry instead of losing our time for things like this."

For once, not a single person disagreed with Trista and everyone went together in Baste Dungeon, in order to see the Fox's Sin of Greed, Ban.

* * *

They were actually walking in the middle of the unneededly long hallways of the Baste Dungeon (which was surprisingly large enough for even Diane to walk inside). The interior was quite dark because of the lack of light, besides for a few fire torches attached to the walls that were enlightening the path they were currently walking on.

Meliodas and Trista were walking forward while Hawk,

"Triss." Meliodas suddenly calling out to the girl who was walking near him, silent enough so that Elizabeth, Diane and Hawk wouldn't hear it but loud enough for Trista to hear him.

After a moment of silence, she asked back but still without looking back at him. "...What is it, Meliodas?"

Meliodas then threw a look at Elizabeth over his shoulder, the latter unaware of his gaze on her once again as she was talking with Diane. It seems that the two are engaged in a more peaceful talk than the previous ones, as Elizabeth was seen to speak happily to Diane while the latter averted her gaze from the princess while playing with her pigtails, a hint that show that she was embarrassed. Inside the giantess' bag was the unconscious daughter of the Dalmary Town's doctor, who fainted after seeing Diane. Though he was used to such things, Meliodas admit that it must have been quite frightening for a common village girl to find a giant hand grasping you all of the sudden.

He didn't knew what happened to them since he couldn't hear them from there due to a certain distance between the two groups (he doesn't even know when there was so much space between them), it's not like they were walking too quickly or anything, so maybe they purposely created that much of distance in order to not be heard? He knows that women sometimes need to talk among themselves with just fellow members of the same gender, he isn't sure if Hawk can fill the required bill for that application despite his unmasculine high-pitched voice…

But at least he was glad that Elizabeth was smiling, she seemed to wish for a female friend to keep her company among all the mens and personally, he didn't felt that Trista would be a good influence for the pure and innocent princess.

"...For some reasons which I don't know why, I feel like I should be awfully offended right now."

"It's surely your imagination, definitely your imagination." Meliodas assured so without missing a beat, ignoring the suspicious glare that he was receiving from Trista by looking at the opposite side of the girl who was walking next to him.

Meliodas then faked a cough and let go of his usual easygoing expression in order to adopt a more serious one, "But going back to the original talk… was it your doing?"

"Of what on earth are you talking about, I wonder?"

"...I'm going to say it frankly, you suck at lying."

"Is that so? I thought myself to be quite a skilled liar though."

"Well allow me to reveal it to you that it isn't the case… wait a second, didn't we already had such a conversation before?"

"I believe that this is your imagination too. ...Though we may have held similar conversations somewhere in the past."

"...Which one is it, seriously." Meliodas looked at her with half-lidded eyes while Trista avoided his gaze. It was as if they were reserving their earlier roles.

He sighed as he tried his hardest to resist an irresistible sudden urge to connect his palm and his forehead together.

_'It's not good… being swept away by her pace would lead to nothing useful, even though I know it, why does it always end up like that?!'_ Never once Meliodas had thought that knowledge would be useless. Though it may not be useful immediately, there would be a time in the future where those multiple pieces of informations may be needed, one just had to find the right time and moment to put them at use…

Yes, he used to always think like that… until, she met that doll-like girl who defy the laws of common sense.

He isn't one to talk be bound by such things and thought himself to be pretty much the one who people always scold over his abnormal actions (according to Bartra, his reasonable comrades, and the late Zaratras among them) and such the one worthy of the role she was currently occupying, but he was totally defeated by her 'abnormalness' and found himself switch over the side of the reasonable ones surprisingly when around of her presence.

_'I am pretty sure that she made me sigh even more than how long I have lived…'_ And he had lived a quite pretty long life, he can definitely admit it without any hesitation.

"But isn't that great?"

"Eh?" It was her voice that brought him back from his thoughts, and when he looked up at her, he saw her now side-glancing at him.

As if she knew that she had now gained his full attention, she spoke without waiting for him to ask anything in order to explain herself, as her gaze glanced once at Elizabeth (like he did earlier but the time she spend on it was fast as light compared to his longing gaze) before it was back at him. "Now you don't have to make a guilty face each time you are seeing her, since she is now woundless."

"...You…"

"Now let us march forward, towards that beloved comrade of yours!" ...And here she goes again, with ignoring him.

She is always like that; doing whatever she want when she felt like it, and saying things she want without waiting for the others' response nor letting them say anything back. The fact that she could still read him so well as always still gave him goosebumps and send chills down his spine, but he felt himself accepting it better compared the time when they were alone together a few hours ago. It was probably due to the fact that despite they are not close to him, he is aware of Elizabeth's and the others' presence behind him.

_'But still you always seem to be free and unbound by anything… and I envy you for that.'_ But for some reasons, he felt that those were words he should never say to her.

"—Cap'n?"

...Oh, and here he heard one hell of a nostalgic voice and way of speaking too. Did they arrived at destination already? Here in front of him was standing none other than the person they were actually looking for.

* * *

"Geez, seriously! I can't believe it!" A a small girl with red eyes and slightly tanned skin. Her hair is a light-chestnut brown color and is relatively short. She wears hair ornaments which ties her hair into two small bunches.

She wears an extravagant japanese styled kimono. She wears an ornament across her waist resembling the back of an old mirror..

...If it weren't for the childish pouting expression she was making which contrast greatly against her graceful appearance, that is (though thankfully no one is here to watch that happen).

She puffed her rosy cheeks angrily like a squirrel stuffing its cheeks, a deep frown on her face as she vented out her frustration by kicking a small stone on the road while keeping on walking. "Even though it was finally time for our reunion, I can't even believe that she said something like 'I am busy right now, let's push it to a later date' with a straight face! Seriously why can't she know how to read mood?"

Then ruby-red eyes opened up before she turned her head and looked over the crumbling form of the Baste Dungeon for whatever reason she didn't knew of (actually it was because of Meliodas and Ban celebrating their long awaited reunion), knowing that the person she knows is definitely in it but without the single hint of worry in her expression but this time with a playful smile on her face.

"Just get ready Trista-san, next time, I will definitely not let you run away anymore~!"

* * *

**A/N.:**** This chapter seems more centred on Elizabeth's POV than I have intended, but I thought that her character development shouldn't be avoided. Originally the new character was supposed to join the group in this chapter but her appearance had been delayed to the next one. I know that there is also the moment when they all reunite with Ban and celebrate their victory at Dr. Dana's house, but I have decided to put it on the next chapter much to my embarrassment (#*_*#) It's because of my lack of time recently.**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

_**\- fantasy.92's review at chapter 8: **_"I love it! It was perfect!"

_**A.:**_ (^^)

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 8: **_"Pretty nice chapter and atmosphere, trough i hope to see soon Trista's powers. Keep up the good work and happy new year.

_**A.:**_ It's a bit complicated about her "Powers" but you will soon understand in the future chapters, and sorry to announce you that it wouldn't be showed so early... If you can please be patient till the next arc, it would be helpful...

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 8: **_"I admit I feel chilling on my nape on the last part where Golgius seriously were crushed by Trista. Trista, you go girl! Ah, you make me want to hug you because of how care you to Elizabeth and Meliodas although you don't mention it out loud or so openly tell them"

**_A.:_** I thought that the scene may be a bit lacking but I'm glad that you like it! Well Elizabeth asides, Trista would surely prefer to bite her tongue off instead of saying that she cares for Meliodas.

**By the way, the next chapter in question would be the first side story, still properly in the storyline, but a "what happen in-between" case, I decided to write a side story at every 10 chapters so I apologize if there are some readers who hope for more actual story than the side ones, but I'll try to make it worth of your time! I hope that it would be up to your hopes, and that you will end up enjoying it! Thank you for reading this chapter and please review XD I can't believe that I have already finished 3 arcs with 9 chapters though...**


	10. Side story 1

_In a dark place without any lights..._

?: "Ah… Ah—"

***Tick, tick***

..._A voice could be heard reasoning through it, along with a few mechanical sounds_...

?: "AHHH~ ...Good, the mic is working. It's soon the time to start, so can someone switch on the light?"

?: "Th-The light?! Y-Yes ma'am! Please wait a second! H-However, where was it again…? I-I can't see it at all..."

?: "Well, well, well… Wasn't it there~?"

?: "Kyaah...?!"

?: "Oops, sorry, sorry, sorry… So it was there, instead~?"

?: "Eeek…?!"

?: "Why the heck are you even touching her for?! There's no way that the switch button would be on her body! Go search on the wall instead!"

?: "Shut up, you swine. Be grateful that I can't even see you in all this darkness, thanks to that you won't get turned into roasted pork."

?: "Pugooo?! How dare you! Take that, ROLLING HAM ATTACK—!"

***CRASH, BAM, BOOM!***

?: "Pugyaa?!"

?: "...That swine… to think that he tried to attack even though he couldn't see at all without the lights on… and as expected he completely missed and even crashed into somewhere else…"

?: "Th-That's terrible! What if he got himself hurt?! We must quickly go and help him…!"

?: "No, no, no, you're staying there. Can't have you to get yourself lost and hurt too, right? But knowing that pig, he should be fine. I'm more worried about whatever he ended up breaking on the way though..."

?: "...*Sigh*..."

***Tap, tap, tap… Click, CLACK!***

_Suddenly the lights switches on… and a chibi-Trista is shown on the screen, in front of her was a desk present, just like one of those that the presenter of the news have when they are passing on TV._

_Trista facepalms herself and sighs as she shake her head in a tired manner._

Trista: "*Sigh*... Of course if I were to ask anything non-combat related to those guys, it would only end up like that… If I knew this beforehand, I wouldn't have asked anything and instead do everything myself."

_Chibi-Meliodas pop his head out from the side of the screen._

Meliodas: "Triss, Triss, Triss… You know that you're already on screen right?"

Trista (a tick mark appeared on her forehead): "If you truly thinks so then please just stay off of the screen, just by having you there would create another catastrophe!"

_Trista is dragging Meliodas away by pulling his ahoge, the two go out of the screen, leaving the room empty._

Meliodas: "Ow, ow, ow! It hurts, Triss, it hurt! I'm against violence!"

Trista: "As if you who always physically abuse a pig can say such things!"

..._However such sounds are not being cut off at all during a few minutes…_

***CRASH, CLING, CLANG!***

_...Along with those other sounds too… and after a while of relaxing music and photos replacing the earlier censored sounds and scenes_…

Elizabeth: "P-Please excuse me…"

_Chibi-Elizabeth took Chibi-Trista's earlier place on the screen, a shy and nerveux look on her face as she directed her gaze towards the camera._

Elizabeth: "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience. Trista-san is… err… that is… well, she is actually busy about some matters with Meliodas-sama, so I would temporarily act as her replacement for today. I-I am not sure if someone like me would be able to do this presentation correctly, but I will still do my best, so…"

***CRASH, CLANG, BOOM!***

_"Cut it out, Meliodas!"_

_"Only if you stop first Triss!"_

_"Pugyaa?! Why am I getting dragged in this too?!"_

**…**

Elizabeth: "..."

_A moment of awkward silence, there was no need to say to whose those voices belonged to, and it seems that the censuring didn't made it in time to cover the damages they were currently making…_

Elizabeth (laughing nervously): "Ahaha… Please don't mind it. Ahem, now let me begin the introduction."

_She takes out some papers present on the desk and read them in her mind before putting it back on the desk when she had most of it memorized._

Elizabeth: "On this day, we would like to thanks every readers for reading, following and favorising this story up until now. It had been decided by the author that there would be a side story chapter around every 10 chapters, and exceptionally the ones who would do the usual A/N done by the author would be us instead, chibis of our original versions in the story. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused and for the readers who were hoping another chapter of the main story. However please stay assured, the side stories always have a relation with the main one, especially today's as it is a 'what happened in-between' and we would be immediately be passing to the next arc after this, so it may not be considered fully as a side story, but… both us and the author hopes that you will enjoy it!"

_And then on the screen behind her, such words appeared..._

'Nanatsu no Taizai and their characters belongs to their original author Nakaba Suzuki-sensei, only the original plot of this fanfic and the main OC present belong to Welt Ende-san.'

_After a bow to the spectators, Elizabeth walked off outside of the screen with a large smile on her face._

Elizabeth: "I am so glad that I managed to pull it off! I was so nervous, and—Wah, KYAA?!"

***CRASH!***

_...And she fell thanks to her usual clumsiness when the lights turned off once again, because of that another furniture got broken. The screen begin to shine and grow large, with the music starting suddenly from nowhere, until..._

* * *

**Side Story 1: _A short moment of respite_**

* * *

"NO WAAAAY—?! You're the voice from Merlin's crystal baaaall?! I always thought that you were a granny~!" A loud male sing-song voice reasoned through the Dalmary Town, making the building from where it came jump a few meters away from the ground before landing back on it (which should have originally been impossible).

Trista's eyebrow twitched slightly before she opened her eyes and glared at the cause of the unneeded loud noise in front of her. "Well I am sorry for not being the granny that you wished for."

There was a very tall and muscular man with short spiky pale blue hair and red eyes, wearing a red leather jacket and pants with metal studs sewn into both alongside shoes of a similar, yet darker color. He also has a large scar on the left side of his jaw and extending down to his neck.

Yes, it was none other than the Fox's Sin of Greed, also known as Undead Ban, a member of the Seven Deadly Sins and the one who was held prisoner at the Baste Dungeon, yet who managed to break out of it on his own without anybody's help.

Seriously, if so why didn't he did so from the beginning? It could have saved them up a lot of time, and since he could already do it on his own to begin with it, there was no need to go and save him at all, was there? It felt like they had did quite a wasted trip…

Trista's response didn't fazed him much, on the contrary he just laughed even louder much to her annoyance, his sharp teeths were shining brightly when his mouth was wide open, "Ahaha! But that sassy attitude is definitively the saaame! Who know that you were actually a little girl all this tiiime~? Despite your small voice, your voice is deep, man!"

"...I see. Would you want this 'little girl' to turn you into minced meat, then?" There was no hint of joke in Trista's voice, or rather it was hard to know when she was even joking or not, she is saying things in such a serious or indifferent manner that it's even difficult to believe that she can joke.

Ban grinned wider at this as his eyes held a dangerous glint, "Hooohhh… I'd like to see you trying thaaat, Lil' Miss…"

It was as if tendrils of electricity seemed to travel back and forth between them. The air grew thick with tension and dark, as if their auras seemed to clash with one another, as the two never left each other's gaze. They were like two beasts that were circling each other, both (predators?) refusing to yield to the other, to the point where you could almost hear them growling…

"Here, it's enough, both of you!"

***Bam, BANG!***

"Ow…"

"ARRGH?!"

Yes, before the two of them were stopped by our favorite blond-haired and green-eyed mini-barmaster, who before they even noticed it, put himself between the two of them and flicked Trista's forehead before punching Ban on the nose, making the girl yelp(?) slightly in surprise and the man groan in pain, being thrown backward before landing on the ground.

Not even a second after that, Ban immediately jumped up back on his feets before glaring, with his nose bruised and bleeding, at his captain who did this. "WHAT THE HELL, CAP'N~?! This difference of treatment, isn't it unfaaair?!"

Meliodas just shrugged nonchalantly at his best friend's antics, "Even I, am enough of a gentleman, to not harm directly a woman's face."

"So it's fine to hurt me more insteaaad?!"

"You're definitely not a woman, besides you already had worse many times before? You can at least handle something small of this level."

"Well, it's true that compared to our usual brawls, it can't be even considered as a wound…" The bruise and blood on Ban's face had already disappeared as if they were just an illusion.

Meliodas and Ban usually challenge each other at almost everything, wherever it's about hitting each other or a drinking contest, at every occasion possible. The consequences end up with both of them covered in wounds from the head to the toe no matter who was the winner, and because of the power of the Fountain of Youth flowing through his blood, Ban was healing much faster than Meliodas who is known for his great durability.

He never complained about his injuries and instead often laughed at how bad they could get sometimes, yet why was he throwing a tantrum over such a small thing? Not that his tantrum was long, it was already over with his earlier frown and sudden raise of voice gone and back to him smiling in a silly manner again.

Trista then rubbed her slightly red forehead, her earlier surprise of his sudden act was gone and she was now back at her usual flat expression. "...A gentleman, you are one, huh?" She repeated his words, in a sarcastic tone as if she was mocking him.

"...Are you trying to imply something again, Triss?" Meliodas raised his eyebrows dangerously as he directed his full attention on her, or rather what she may say next. His next actions would also depend on her following words.

The girl, however, remained unfazed as always as she uttered those same words that would seal her fate, totally unaware of the effect they would bring, "Knowing you, hitting a woman in the face would be really easy, you only act as a gentleman when a certain lady is watching, when she isn't here you probably won't care about how many women you—OW!"

***BANG!***

He had enough of listening to her so before she could even finish whatever she would keep on saying, he slammed his fist on the top of her head… Wherever she was actually right or not, he would rather not confirm it, especially if a certain silver-haired princess may be watching him… and this certainly doesn't confirm anything at all, yeah.

He then looked down and stared at his fist in slight confusion._ '...However I'm not sure if hitting her head should make such a sound…'_ For some reason when he hits her, there was a strangely loud and reasoning metallic sound… was this actually his imagination? Or actually, her head did felt pretty hard, was that normal? He looked up to see Trista, in front of him, holding her head with both her hands, surprisingly no bump was present over the place he punched.

"...I have been injured." She murmured like this, but her words and expression weren't matching up at all, it was as if she was doing some kind of really bad and unmotivated acting. Or rather, can she actually feel the pain? He was never sure of it with how she hardly show her emotions. When Meliodas was about to say something about this…

"AHAHAHA!" Until Ban's loud laughter started again. He then walked towards Trista before starting to tap her loudly (with 'PAF, PAF' sounds reasoning) on the head with a huge grin on his face, "To even make Cap'n irritated so easily like thaaat, you're sure an interestin' one, aren't yaaa Lil' Miss~?"

"I am not, and stop doing that." Trista slapped Ban's hand away, but it didn't stopped the thief, on the contrary as he started to ruffle her hair too strongly, making it look all disheveled. "C'mooon~, don't say that, I'm sure we're gonna get along fine, so let's mess around with Cap'n together, 'kaaaay?"

Trista's eyebrow twitched once again before she returned Ban's grin with an harsh glare, "We are not, and let go of me already!"

Meliodas just decided to watch them from the sidelines, slight amusement on his face. He was slightly relieved that Ban didn't disliked Trista despite the latter's sassy attitude, after all because of his past he hardly trusted people easily, so it was great to have people around to whom his best friend could genuinely smile to, no matter if the other party likes it or not. But the thought about those two ganging up together against him was not something he would like though.

"Fufu…" A small and soft giggle could be heard from behind him.

Immediately recognizing it, Meliodas turned to the source of it and asked without even the need to check it twice, "Sorry for the ruckus Elizabeth, did they ended up bothering you?"

The princess of Liones was sitting on the nearby sofa of the balcony, with a suddenly really chatty Diane by her side, though she was outside of the building since she couldn't fit inside (before they even knew it, the two warmed up to each other and started to talk as if they were old friends, the giantess' previous hostility towards the princess was completely gone).

"No, it is alright Meliodas-sama, it didn't bothered me at all. On the contrary, it seem to be quite lively instead." Elizabeth answered with a gentle smile on her face.

Seeing her smiling made Meliodas smile at his turn as he shrugged his earlier's concern before making sign to Ban to stop his chat with Trista and approach, and once he was close enough…

"Well then… Elizabeth. I'll introduce him again, this is the Fox's Sin of Greed, Ban."

"'ellooooo~ Nice to meet ya~" Ban grinned as he gave a slight wave, sitting on the top of an ale filled barrel in, his legs crossed in a quite impolite manner, his right feet being raised on his left thigh.

However Meliodas raised an eyebrow at the attire the former (or still) thief was wearing. "Hm? Where did those clothes come from?" Indeed, he was wearing a red leather jacket and pants with metal studs sewn into both alongside shoes of a similar, yet darker color. Clothes that he didn't had earlier when they met him at the Baste Dungeon when he was only wearing a pair of really used trousers.

Ban just grinned with a smile as he answered as if it was the most evident of the things, "How could I be naked in front of a princess~?"

Indeed his words weren't false and indeed, it made sense (which was rare coming from such a senseless person like him), but this wasn't what Meliodas wanted to ask, so instead he patiently reformed his question. "How did you have money to buy clothes?"

After all Ban was a prisoner for those 10 last years, and before he was put into that cell of his, every single of his personal belonging should have been confiscated, so for him to have enough money hidden on him to even buy a set of clothes (which hardly fits his size) is logically impossible, and for the Holy Knights who treated him so horribly to even lend him some was even less plausible… Only the possibility of him stealing from them before rejoining Meliodas' group was the only way but if so there would be no way for Meliodas to not notice it.

"I just happened to find them lying arooound."

_'...And of course it there wasn't more of an obvious lie. But that's explain why he went on a separate way from us before going back to Dalmary.'_ Meliodas thought so as he closed his eyes and held back a sigh, he didn't knew who was the victim that Ban beat up and stole the clothes from but he gave a mental apology to the poor man that accidentally and unfortunately caught Ban's attention (or at least his clothes did).

Unaware of his captain having such thoughts (surely because of his perfect pokerface), Ban hopped off from the barrel and walked a bit towards Diane, his hands resting on his hips, the smile never leaving his lips. "By the way, it's been a whiiile, Diane."

Diane however, didn't returned his enthusiastic greeting back and just turned her head on the side and avoiding his gaze before closing her eyes and sighed deeply, "And I would have be fine without seeing you for a hundred of years." She didn't even bothered to hide her obvious dislike of him neither did she sugarcoated her words for a 10 years long reunion, but Ban just didn't cared about that and laughed it off, "Ahaha! C'mon, don't be so cooold~!"

"Cut it out!" ...And he received the same answer as he did with Trista… not that he cared about it or anything.

Upon seeing them interacting with each other in such a friendly(?) atmosphere, Elizabeth felt slightly awkward and uncomfortable about being one of the only strangers among those people who were familiar with each other since a long time (before she knew it Trista already mixed among them?).

_'...No, I decided to be more decisive! I must stop hesitating like this!'_ She already decided to be a more positive and optimist herself from now on! Besides all the Sins she met up until now were actually good people who didn't fits the rumors surrounding them, perhaps it was only Ban's look that was scary, it's not like he was truly one of those bad wolves who would capture and eat children she had read in those picture books in her past.

So she took a deep breath and stood up before walking closer to Ban, interrupting his talk with Diane, greeting him with a bow and a polite smile on her face. "My name is Elizabeth. I apologize for meeting you in such a sorry state back then." She hoped that her voice didn't trembled too much and that she wasn't showing any signs of weaknesses.

By the way what she meant about is that when they have finally met Ban at the Baste Dungeon, Elizabeth couldn't bear her physical exhaustion any further and collapsed, worrying everyone on the place. Because of this, Meliodas became more worried about her condition then about happily enjoying a reunion challenge with his impatient fellow male Sin.

Which caused Ban to stir up a fight between them to get things more fired up, Meliodas who threw himself wholeheartedly in it in order to finish it quickly and take care of Elizabeth, with Ban answering with full-hearted enthusiasm and joy, and before it was back at Meliodas and then back at Ban, and before they have noticed, the building of Baste Dungeon was already in ruins around them, with everything having fell apart.

(Of course the unconscious Elizabeth was entrusted in Diane's careful hands, and so was Cenette, the daughter of Dr. Dana who managed to escape and fainted too, upon being astonished by Ban and Meliodas' brawl. Trista, her, could take care of herself, and Hawk was sturdy enough to survive a fall of those few meters at least).

However much to her surprise, Elizabeth didn't received any of the former's thief's snarky remarks as he had put a hand over his chest before bowing to her like she did to him as he spoke with polite words she didn't believed him capable of. "Not at all, Your Highness. We, Sins, don't care about such formalities. I hope the four of us can get along."

"There's six of us!" Suddenly a high-pitched voice was heard.

"...? …?" Ban looked up in confusion, searching for the source of the voice, before his eyes landing on Trista and gave her a grin, "Oops, sorry 'bout that, Lil' Miss, completely forgot about you there. So it makes five of us, then. But why six then?"

"I didn't said anything though." Trista answered without missing a beat, but before Ban could ask what she meant, Meliodas spoke in her turn, "There are really six of us."

"What are you talking about, Cap'n? There's only five of us…"

Once again Ban heard this voice, and this time the words were far longer. "This guy's such a nut-job. After getting separated from his team, he goes and lets himself get thrown in prison. For fun! And then breaks out the moment he hears his comrades are still alive… leaving the place in the process. You sure he doesn't have a screw or two loose?"

Feeling slightly annoyed at the criticism that were said to him by someone he just met (and still couldn't see), Ban's gaze turned cold and menacious as he glared down at the source that he finally identified which was downward, at his feets as he asked dangerously, "Who said that?"

However what awaited for him was totally unexpected…

"Me (pugo, pugo)!" The unexpected taking the shape of a round and pink pig, puffing air from its nostrils with a proud look and smirk on his face.

For one minute of silence where Ban just stared blankly at Hawk and Hawk just stared back at Ban...

**…**

"A TALKING PIG?!" And the moment of silence was interrupted by Ban who made an incredulous/incredible expression as he opened his eyes and jaw so wide that it should be normally impossible, the veins in his eyeballs were clearly visible and his eyes were so wide that it seemed they would end up popping out of their sockets, his mouth so wide that every single of his teeths could be seen from the front to even the ones hidden behind, and wow, they are sure sharp…!

"Why are you shocked about this by now?!" Hawk retorted as Ban jumped behind of several meters away from him, as if he was distancing himself of something incredibly creepy and it felt utterly insulting!

Hawk considered himself to be the handsomest pig that everybody admired (though only Elizabeth shared this thought) so the idea of someone acting as if he was repulsive truly hurt his pure piggy heart and pride! Okay he can understand if someone were shocked right after he just met them, but what with that few hours decaled reaction?! Didn't they all walked back together since the Baste Dungeon?!

"A pig that can speak like a person?! That's absurd! I thought you were Diane's meal!"

Hawk endured the imaginary arrows that were stabbing at him mercilessly, being created by Ban's words before he had enough of trembling of anger and shouted out his annoyance at this repetitive misunderstanding, "Why do people assume I'm just for eating all the time?!"

_'It's surely because Meliodas always threatens to turn me into roasted pork!'_ Yeah, everything is his fault! But if this Ban is so ignorant, then Hawk wouldn't mind telling him, it was always a joy to tell how great he was!

"For your information, i'm no ordinary pig! I am the leader of the Knighthood of Scraps Disposal, Hawk-sama!"

"Amazing, I've never heard anything about this!"

"And we've got one pig who started to mix up fantasy with reality." Meliodas noted with half-lidded eyes, seeing his best friend's eyes shining with interest and admiration towards that self-boasting pig. Having someone who would admire him would even boast his ego further and make him an even more pain to deal with…

"Everyone, we apologize for the wait!" Thankfully they were interrupted by a helping hand coming from outside of the conversation, who was none other than the supposedly deceased Dr. Dana who was miraculously alive and well enough to stand up, despite being previously stabbed in the heart, and at his sides, his smiling daughter Cenette was carrying multiple plates piled on each other in her hands.

"We apologize for the terrible long delay, but we are finally over with the preparation of the dinner! Now feel free to dig in!" The doctor smiled with enthusiasm as he gestured with his hand towards the long table behind him, a table filled with a great amount and variety of freshly-cooked and delicious-looking food.

The wonderful sight of it was enough to make everyone's brighten as everybody rushed towards the table, in particularly the men's sides who moved a lot physically today. Ban and Meliodas were having a race and Hawk followed them closely from behind, yelling at them to leave him some scraps.

The girl's group was more slow to the action, Elizabeth asking Diane what the latter wanted to eat so she could bring it to her since the giantess couldn't even enter with her large size, but such a problem was quickly solved when Cenette carried an enormous meat skewer, at least enough for Diane to eat with her father following closely behind her and making a barrel full of ale rolling up to her.

Diane, completely overjoyed and moved by this act of kindness towards her, seems to have completely warmed up to them and considered them as 'okay humans' like Elizabeth and started a heated girl's talk together with the latter and Cenette, Dr. Dana returned to serve the meal for the men or cook more if it weren't enough for them.

Seeing the group being clearly separated into two different parts by gender, Trista decided that she didn't wanted to be part of neither and sat on the ground, placing herself on the small place present between two furnitures.

She stared at Ban chugging down on the all the ale, Meliodas pulling Hawk hardly on the tail to keep the pig's drooling on all the food, Elizabeth and Diane chatting happily with each other. After observing them for a while, she just decided to close her eyes slowly at the moment...

* * *

_"Come on~! It's been such a long time since we last saw each other, in other words the moment where a hugging scene would be needed for such a touching reunion, at least let me enjoy it for one minute!"_

_"I'd rather not put up with you strangling me, even if it's for one single second."_

_"I-It's not as if I was attacking you!"_

_"It didn't looked so for me, for a second, I truly feared for my life."_

_"Even if you are the one with the upper hand right now?!"_

_"Even if. Besides you truly tried to attack me."_

_"I-It was just that I wanted to check your reflexes since it's been a while we last saw each other, and…! Besides didn't you also did it to me in the past?!"_

_"...Did I?"_

_"You definitely did! Don't try to forget as you please and pass it for something trivial!"_

_"Well even if it's true, the fact that I do it to someone else don't mean that I would like the same thing to be done to me, what would you have done if it left a scar, huh?"_

_"How unreasonable! Are you more concerned about that than the fake explosion?!"_

_"Now that you say that, indeed there was this too."_

_"Did you forgot?!"_

_"...But this is who I am, unfortunately for you."_

_***Crack, crack…***_

_"OWOWOW! Please stop! I-If you continue, my face would get smaller and smaller!"_

_"As if I cared about such a thing."_

_***Squeeze***_

_"GYAAAAAAA!"_

_The scene that was currently unfolding itself in the middle of the woods near Dalmary Town can be described with many words, many among them would be for example 'weird', 'strange', 'odd' or even curious… however the only reaction that could be appropriate for it, would be surely a raised eyebrow, a frown and a mouth wide open._

_After all among the green trees with the wind blowing through the leaves, there was a petite girl dressed in a gothic lolita-like outfit with long platinum hair and heterochromia eyes, dragging a woman who is bigger than her upward, with her hand crushing the latter's face and this same one holding her up. Yes, one would call this… an 'iron claw'._

_...This is incredulous, it should be physically impossible taking count of the two's slight difference in height (even if the former was standing on a fallen tree's trunk), yet the petite girl managed to drag the woman upward enough to the point that the latter's feets didn't even touched the ground._

_"OWOWOW! Seriously, my head's gonna crack open at this rate, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was all my fault so please forgive me—!" And so, more and more miserable-sounding chicken-like cries were coming from the taller female as she started to struggle with more strength and wide movements, still useless in the little girl's iron grip, it was incredible about how their respective positions were reversed from what it was earlier._

_The girl was taken off of guard by the newcomer's sudden appearance and when the latter launched herself on her with the intention of hugging her (apparently), the former took it as an assassination attempt and counterattacked (especially after that arrow)… which led to this current situation_

_After a sigh, the younger girl finally think that it should be enough and let go of the older woman with a tired sigh. Said woman fell miserably on her back against the ground instead of on her feets with a 'muguu' sound, ungraceful for a woman to make._

_The girl then jumped off of the trunk in a unladylike manner before staring at the woman who was still laying on the ground, her limbs spread apart as she stayed in this position, unmoving for a while._

_And a few seconds after, the latter quickly jumped back on her feets and glared at the younger one with teary eyes, "It hurts!"_

_"Well obviously it would." The heterochromia girl answered without missing a beat, with a flat stare, stating the obvious._

_"Then why couldn't you be a bit gentler?!"_

_"Because I made so that it would hurt."_

_"Isn't it worse?!"_

_"It isn't to me."_

_And so continued the exchange between an overly dramatically emotional woman and an indifferent, unfazed and poker-faced girl, each of them answered with responses befitting their respective personalities, neither wanted to yield to the other, and after a few more minutes of arguing (one-sided accusations followed by calm retorts), which eventually end up with the woman panting heavily, covered in sweat and exhausted on the ground with the girl staring still-as-ever flatly at her, refusing to show any other expression or emotion on her face._

_"A-As expected, trying to reason a stubborn person like you was really a waste of time…" The woman gasped between her deep breaths, her hands and knees against the ground and her body in a kneeling position, facing her back to the girl who put her in such a state._

_The latter didn't seemed to feel the least guilty about that, just answered as flatly as her stare was. "If you had realized that earlier then you wouldn't be there right now, huffing like a bull would."_

_"And who's fault do you think it is, who's?!"_

_"Yours of course, who else?" Seeing the doll-like girl answer this with so much confidence made the older one feel an irresistible envy to just bang her head against the ground and just fall unconscious instead of being forced to deal with this whole matter later on and giving up the duty of making that clueless girl understand that she was the one in the wrong._

_The woman sighed as she sighed deeply in desperation, "Geez… This is why you are so uncute… which is also one of your cute sides~!" She finished as she turned around flashing a refreshing and shining smile, almost radiant, with a thumb-up towards the younger girl whose flat expression still didn't changed even by now, and neither had her sassy remarks. It was a 90° degree change coming from the former, and 0° degree change from the latter._

_"You sure cheered up quickly, didn't you? If you are feeling well enough to say such stupidities, then hurry up and stand up before you get covered in mud."_

_"Oh, oh? What is it~? Are you perhaps worried about me~?" The woman immediately stood back up, her expression filled with energy as she teased the little girl, who…_

_"You? Not at all, I feel more sorry about those clothes you are wearing, aren't they made from fine material? Yet here they are covered in mud just because a klutz like you is wearing them and dirtying them." The girl deadpanned, she didn't even hesitated to say those words as she didn't even considered them as even possibly hurtful._

_"So it's only about the clothes?!" The woman lost her footing and immediately fell against the ground once again in an incredulous manner. Well it's true that they ARE of high-quality, but still! Wouldn't one be more concerned about the health of the person than the state of the clothes?_

_This time, the girl's expression changed as her eyes widened and she noted with valuable surprise, "Oh, impressive. This time you managed to avoid that puddle of mud."_

_And once again, the woman stood up, as she brushed off the mud from sleeves of her kimono and sighed in a slightly teary tone, even giving up on trying to retort anything back at the doll-like girl, "Aah… In the end, clothes are more important than me, huh? It was as if you were mean on purpose, do you truly dislike me that much…?"_

_"Oh, you only noticed it by now? I thought that I was pretty obvious."_

_"Are you trying to make me cry?! Because I'll really cry, you know?!"_

_"Okay, I admit that maybe I went a little too far on the last one…" The girl declared so, upon seeing real tears at the corner of the woman's eyes, yet she didn't seemed to be the least remorseful once again. It was hard to believe wherever she truly meant her words but she isn't one who would say unnecessary words, and compared to her past self it could already be considered as a huge progress._

_'Still, why must she be so doll-like wherever it's in appearance or personality, I wonder…? Besides it's not only at the last one that you went too far, and it certainly can't be considered as "a bit" either.' The brunette thought wryly as she picked herself up and dusted her kimono off._

_"Ahem~," She faked a cough and then put a hand on her modest (almost flat) chest before opening her mouth with a wide smile, "Now, it's time for the introduction—"_

_"What the point of introducing yourself to someone who already know you?"_

_"Can you please stop interrupting me every second?!"_

_"Why are you even here for in the first place?"_

_"I'm begging you, at least please listen when people are talking!" The woman finished screaming out of her lungs and once again, started to pant heavily, trying to catch her breath so many times tired her terribly._

_But knowing the girl since a long time, she also knew that the latter wouldn't listen unless she receive the answers first, or rather she wouldn't even listen if the subject wasn't worth of her interest._

_So while trying to choose her words carefully, she made sure to not let any hesitation show on her face or in her voice as she spoke, "Well, since it's been a while since you didn't came for a visit, I decided instead to—"_

_The girl glared this time, "Go home." ...It didn't even lasted 2 seconds._

_"Come on, at least listen to me until the end! I walked all this way to Britannia just to see you, you know?!"_

_"Which was an unneeded action. If some kind of emergency was needed then you could have contacted me in other ways than to present yourself in person."_

_"It wasn't a question of emergency or not, it's just… W-Why can't you be a bit more kind…? You're so cruel" And so the woman started to shed tears, the drops descending from her red eyes to her cheeks as she started to sob in a heartbreaking manner, covering her face with both her hands._

_In normal times, anybody who see this would immediately regret their past attitude apologize for their previous actions, before trying to comfort the woman who was now crying like a child and try to answer to any of her actual demands in order to make it up to her._

_In normal times, yes._

_However it was not in one of those normal times, and moreover the other party wasn't one of those considerate people who all share this common sense and whom you would often encounter often on your road, but an abnormally rude one who doesn't hold such a concept._

_And moreover, she is one who is good at recognizing lies from the truth._

_Which is why this time, in contrast of her usual flat stare, she answered with a deep frown and a certain edge in her voice, "Your faking start to get on my nerves, I strongly recommend you to stop before it irritate me further." Just a single sentence of warning._

_"..." And with this, the sobs coming from the woman immediately stopped. She stood there, unmoving, the sleeves of her kimono still hiding her eyes._

_Originally it should have been impossible for someone to immediately stop their tears nor sobs on the instant just because someone ordered them to, even the ragged breathing stopped all together… which could only meant…_

_"Oh, what, so you already knew that I was lying~?" The woman lowered the sleeves of her kimono before presenting a teasing smile to the girl, all traces of tears gone as if it didn't even existed in first place as she put a finger on her chin in a cutesy manner. "But how weird, I was pretty sure that I was a good actor~"_

_"You don't seem one to me."_

_"You are just too good at detecting lies~" The woman waved off and just grinned at the girl, this time the latter seemed to have a more pensive look on her face._

_"...Why did you truly came for, seriously?"_

_"That… is a secret for now, but at least let me tell you that I won't be leaving any soon, so be sure to prepare a room for me!" She snucked her tongue out and winked cutely, ignoring the weird look the girl had been giving her._

_"Well, you'll be seeing me around very soon, I promise!"_

_"I'd rather having you leave, seriously."_

_"If you say so then I definitely won't!" She turned her back to the girl and waved without looking at her while walking away, but then she suddenly stopped._

_The girl waited, raising an eyebrow at why the woman suddenly stopped herself but then noticed a change of atmosphere around the latter, but before she could ask anything about it, the woman beat her to it the first…_

_"Say… **'Lilliel'**."_

_The younger girl widened her eyes at the name and reacted immediately with a glare towards the older one, "Who and how?" However the woman didn't answered her question, no matter how she waited, so she had no choice but to give up her search with a sigh._

_"Don't call me by that name. ...It's Trista." The answer she received to her previous call was terribly cold and had a dangerous edge, hinting at an upcoming conflict if she were to repeat this name once again._

_Realizing it, the woman tried to hold back a shiver as she once again reformuled herself. "...Then, Trista. I heard from the Wind that you were trying to help an human princess and her friends to save their kingdom..."_

_The woman then turned around, her expression was not like the usual cheery smile she was wearing and instead was covered by a frown as she asked in a slight unsure voice, "Are you really planning to help them save Liones Kingdom without any hidden objective…?"_

_"I am, after all, I feel sorry for Elizabeth but this journey, to me, it's simply..."_

* * *

"—Triss? ...Are you sleeping?"

"...I'm not." Trista opened her eyes as she answered the question and looked at the person who asked her such a thing, she didn't even needed to raise her head since Meliodas crouched himself in front of her.

_'How ironic…'_ Trista couldn't help but think so. Even if she was in a sitting position, he could still had called out to her while standing up, without the need of crouching down to meet her gaze, yet he did it, as if he was an adult interacting with a child. Truly, how ironic…

Meliodas just looked at her with his usual unchanging nonchalant expression, "Is that so? You didn't opened your eyes for a while so Elizabeth thought that you might be asleep. 'She may catch cold if she sleep in such a place without any covered while sitting on the hard and cold floor like this, could you please carry her over here, Meliodas-sama?', is what she said."

"Of course, as expected of Elizabeth, considerate as always."

"Can't deny this," Meliodas grinned, taking a short time to glance at the princess who was more far away and looked back at him curiously."

"Which attract you to her, right?"

And with those words, Meliodas's smile fell as he immediately switched his attention back to Trista, with half-lidded eyes. "...I am not one for denying anything, but is it truly necessary for you to spell it out each single time?"

"If I remember well, your comrade who often voice out the mood while it isn't necessary is absent, so I am proving some kind of replacement for him."

"Which is unneeded, and I won't thank you for it. Or rather, is that Gowther that you're talking about?" Meliodas then put a hand on his chin as he hummed in thought, his gaze cast downward, "...Or rather is that the impression you have of him? Though you aren't wrong either…"

Trista then turned her head and switched her attention to Elizabeth, who now had switched her attention to speaking with Diane. She looked pensive before she uttered those next words: "Indeed, Elizabeth's kindness and forgiveness is one of her greatest strength."

"Right?" Meliodas grinned down at Trista as if to say that 'For once we agree with each other!', but then…

"But it's also one of her greatest weakness, it can be fatal for her."

Once again Meliodas's smile disappeared and now a frown grew on his face, "Well, way to make the mood turn bad, Triss. Is praising people only to bring them down after an habit of yours?"

"I was just stating a fact," Trista crossed her arms over her legs, her knees now brought up to support her chin, "Besides it's not like I was insulting her, just a warning about how it could be a double-edged blade."

"You know what, the worst about it is that I can't even refute your words…" Meliodas scratched his head with his hand, ruffling his already messy hair further as he looked away.

Though he didn't wanted to admit it, Trista was right. Elizabeth was too pure and kind, and though there may be people who like her for it and would be touched by her forgiveness and perhaps change for the better, there are as many who would take advantage of her and try to manipulate her good intentions for their selfish needs.

But knowing Elizabeth's personality, she would surely extend her hand towards anyone who needs help, no matter what kind of person they are, the fact that she didn't even resented the Holy Knights who tried to harm her life previously was the more solid proof of all.

She can only see the good parts of people and doesn't realize their bad parts for now, if someone try to approach her with fake kindness, she may not even realize it. This was the naïvity of a sheltered princess, and something that may lead to her downfall.

And as much Meliodas wanted to protect her from anything impure in the world, he know well that her mindstate is something that need to be thrown away in order to fulfill her goal. She needed to throw away those childish ideals further and mature up. Meliodas know that he can't protect her forever from anything that try to harm her, wherever it's mental or physical, after all he who went through many failures know this better than anyone. But still…

_'But still… is that wrong for me to believe that despite that, she would still be alright?'_ Meliodas raised his head upward, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. After all he is among the one who had always been saved by this side of hers, thanks to that he changed, and hopefully so would be the others who are like his past self.

"Still Elizabeth asked you to check up on me, huh…?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Meliodas stood up and looked down at Trista who did not meet his gaze but just looked straight ahead, at whatever she is seeing right now but he didn't, "So if she doesn't asked you to check up on me, you wouldn't approach me at all, won't you?"

He then averted his gaze from her and looked ahead, his back against the wall as he crossed his arms over his chest, "It's not true."

"I wonder if it's really so…"

"...Why are you saying that? Are you jealous or anything?"

"Who on earth is? I can't even understand what's so great about you."

"Oh? Can't you see it? I'm someone wonderful, you know?"

"...Are you seriously meaning it?"

"...To say the truth, I don't know either." This was how their exchanges went, refusing to meet each other's gazes and staring straight ahead, but still talking to each other even if they weren't facing each other.

And then suddenly Trista stood up, without even caring about cleaning her skirt neither brushing the dust on it, still refusing to face Meliodas she looked straight ahead, Meliodas too didn't turned his head to her or even looked at her, both continued to stare ahead, and…

"...I'm hungry."

"Well I hardly saw you eat anything so of course you'll be. There hardly anything left but Dr. Dana and Cenette saved up some things away from Hawk for you. Go ahead. I'll go to Elizabeth's while you're at it." And with that he left.

Trista didn't even turned to see him off, instead opting to walk towards the now nearly empty long table that was covered in food earlier, she also met up with the doctor and his daughter. Her intention was to take some food from them, thanks them and then leave.

What she didn't expected was that they would suddenly hold her hands in gratitude and thanks her with moved tears at the corner of their eyes.

"Thank you really much for saving my father's life, I already lost my mother so I don't know what I would have done if I had lost him too!"

"I heard that you were the one who treated me and brought me back to the clinic from my assistant. Even if it was for the sake of saving my daughter, I did something as horrible as poisoning one of your comrade, I don't deserve you and your friend's kindness and help but despite this, you people not only saved my daughter but you also saved my life. I can't thank you enough, truly thank you!"

"I heard from the rumors that she is apparently a witch, it explains how she managed to heal you, Dad!"

"Yeah, that's what the princess said. Let's have a better image of the witches from now on!"

"Yeah! There can be good ones as there can be bad ones."

_'...Of what on earth are those people talking about?'_ Trista couldn't help but wonder so as she saw the father and daughter duo enjoying their own talk and lefting her out of it (not on purpose).

It seems that they misunderstand that Trista was the one who healed Dr. Dana.

However it was false, though she did brought him back, she didn't healed him. It was the act of something else, but she didn't knew what since she wasn't present during the moment. When she arrived, it was hard to notice because of the dried blood covering it but the wound was already closed, so it must have happened before her arrival.

She wanted to say so but in the end, seeing their happy faces, she couldn't say it. Of course it isn't like she was trying to steal the honor of whoever or whatever healed them but dealing with the stress that something unknown may cause that would be bad, so she didn't said it. She would later realize that she didn't even refuted them about the fact that she was a witch (because she isn't one!).

Thus after receiving some leftover food on her plate, Trista moved towards the group where Meliodas were, and for some reason it was strangely noisy. Then when she arrived, Diane who was the one with the most altitude (due to her size) saw her the first before calling out to her in an energetic manner, waving her arm back and forth even though there was hardly the need to do so taking account of how close their distances were.

"Ah, Trista! You arrived at the right time! Say something to Captain too!"

"You people are sure noisy, did something happened?"

"Don't you think that Captain is too rude?!"

Trista blinked once at Diane's words, looked at Meliodas, before looking back at the giantess and then blinking twice. "...Meliodas is always rude, is that something to be shocked about?"

"You of all people has no right to say that, Triss." Meliodas deadpanned at her with half-lidded eyes (he noticed that he often did that expression when interacting with her).

Trista then looked at him curiously, "What are you talking about?"

"Are you doing it on purpose?"

"So you are saying that I am rude?"

"You didn't even noticed?"

Did she seriously meant it?

"PWAHAHAHA!" Ban burst out of laughing, spitting out the ale in his mouth in the same moment which earned him an 'Eww!' and some further complains from Diane who stepped back in disgust (even though she was the one the most far away from him among everyone else).

Trista sighed and then looked around her, "Well I don't understand the topic of the conversation so please explain."

"Oops, sorry, I should have started by that." Diane grinned sheepishly before sending a pout towards Meliodas' direction, "I was saying that Elizabeth is so polite towards us, yet Captain is so impolite towards a princess! Elizabeth even said that since the first time he met her, he called her without honorifics already!"

"Diane! I said that I didn't mind it, calm down please!" Elizabeth tried to calm Diane down and Trista noticed the absence of the honorific 'sama' in the giantess' name, it seems that the two had grown closer compared to their previous relationship.

Trista raised an eyebrow at her words, "What the problem with it? I also called her simply 'Elizabeth' when I first met her."

"Eh?! You did?!"

"Yes, even Trista-san did Diane, so there is no problem!"

"There is!"

"Which are…?"

"E-Erm…"

"Well Meliodas is impolite towards everyone, he even calls the king of Liones by his first name."

"S-See?! Captain is the one in the wrong!"

"...Triss, either help me out or don't, choose one between them but stop doing both, it's disturbing. Besides, why am I the only one in the wrong when Triss is clearly worst than me?"

"BWAHAHAHA!"

"Seriously, what with those guys…" Hawk sweatdropped as he looked towards the group's conversation being developed like this. And after some further arguments…

"...I understand." Meliodas sighed and as if he resigned himself to something, decided to ignore the other and look only at Elizabeth, the latter felt herself blush under such an intense gaze, even the others stopped bickering and switched their attention only on them and observed their actions.

Meliodas then put his hand over his chest and bent himself a bit forward as he uttered the following words not in his usual easygoing way of speaking, but this time…

"I sincerely apologize for all the rudeness I presented you with up until this day, Your Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth."

"Eh…?" Elizabeth widened her eyes in shock at Meliodas's sudden change of attitude and tone, so did everyone else (Ban literally dropped his ale bottle and had his mouth wide open), even Trista but she soon narrowed her eyes in a wary glare towards Meliodas.

"N-No way, Cap'n of all people is being polite?!"

"I thought that he didn't even knew polite speech!"

Even though his fellow Sins were having rude thoughts voiced out about him, Meliodas didn't reacted to them at all and just kept his attention focused Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was probably the most flustered by that as she quickly raised her hands and waved them to show her denial, "P-Please Meliodas-sama, there is truly no need for you to—"

Meliodas just silently shook his head before closing his eyes, "No, my comrades were right. Taking account of our respective status, you are a princess of the royal family and even though I am no longer one, I used to be a Holy Knight serving your kingdom, therefore my attitude towards you should have been more formal, and yet…"

"M-Meliodas-sama…!" Elizabeth felt like crying, and definitely not out of joy. She never minded once Meliodas' informality towards her, or rather she was appreciating it, it felt refreshing that someone didn't saw her as the Third Princess of Liones, but rather just as 'simple Elizabeth', especially with how her relationship with Gilthunder and his friends became distant since the event of 10 years ago.

Besides for some reason… Meliodas just felt special. He was the one whom she wanted the least to hear her title from, he probably didn't knew how happy she felt each time he called her name, rather she didn't even understood it herself. Besides somewhere within her tell her that Meliodas never used honorifics when it came to her, and the fact that he just did now felt strangely unnatural, a feeling that she can't get used to and doesn't want to get used to.

She was about to beg him to stop, but then Meliodas suddenly opened his eyes, showing his usual perverted grin as he moved his hands in a groping movement as if he was grabbing the air, "May I request the authorization of massaging your chest?"

"...Eh?"

"IN THE END, IT COME TO THAT, HUH?!" Hawk immediately appeared and jumped to heatbutt Meliodas, making the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins fall backwards.

Trista just averted her eyes from the scene as she picked a meat skewer from her plate and bite into it, _'As expected, it come to that, huh…?'_ Her thoughts were strangely similar to Hawk's words.

He probably just wanted to tease Elizabeth with his usual perverted joies, he didn't truly mean it. It seems that the princess realized this too as she smiled in relief, Diane's scolding and Ban's laughter could also be heard.

Trista just raised her head upward as she looked at the night sky, _'Peaceful days would probably never come around them…'_ She noticed so.

Soon meteors started to fall through the night sky filled with stars at high-speed. It was a beautiful and colorful spectacle that would steal anyone's breath away, everyone were focused on it with awe. Unfortunately, Trista was aware that this breathtaking show didn't bring good news, and she was pretty sure that Meliodas was as aware of it as she was.

* * *

"Oi, Elizabeth. Where do you think you're going?"

"Eh…?" Elizabeth stopped walking up the stairs further as she turned to Meliodas with a confused look.

In late evening, the group composed of three members of the Seven Deadly Sins, a certain princess, a pseudo-witch and a talking pig decided to go back to the Boar Hat. Despite Dr. Dana's eagerness to let them stay at their clinic for another night to rest as a sign of gratitude, Meliodas refused for them insisting on the fact that they are in hurry for continuing their journey.

Well he may had accepted if Elizabeth's wounds were more severe but thanks to the magic tool that Trista used on her, all her wounds were healed and that only left the exhaustion caused by them. Thankfully, Elizabeth had recovered enough to avoid that.

But the main reason is that because the more long they get involved with civilians, the more they can be put in danger because of them, taking account of the Holy Knights' cowardly methods, the possibility that they try to take hostages against them isn't low. Of course as long they can save them it's alright, but no matter how strong you are not everything would go in the way you want.

When they reached the Boar Hat, it was already late in nighttime and taking count of everyone's exhausting day, the most logical thinking was that all of them should go rest since they already ate and starting business so late is impossible. So Elizabeth was about to go to her room but was stopped by Meliodas before she could reach it.

"Ban already took your room, you know?"

"Eh?" Indeed now that she thought about it, Ban did such a thing as throwing his terribly low amount of belongings onto her bed and declared this room to be his from now on.

"I-I see…? D-Does that mean that I would be sharing a room with Ban-sama from now on?" She never had a roommate who was a man before, perhaps Gilthunder and his friends when they were children…? She did recalled them being invited often to the castle to spend the night with the authorization of her father as the personal guards of her elder sisters. Well since Ban was tired she didn't mind to lend him her bed and sleep on the floor instead, but...

"Of course not." His response was immediate. For some reason, Meliodas' gaze on her felt really stern. It was rare for him to show her anything but a smile, and she felt slightly nervous about it, and not in a good way.

_'...Did I upset him…?'_ She couldn't help but thinks so but no matter how she try to search through her memories, she can't recall what could be the trigger to it.

Instead Meliodas pointed the door behind him over his shoulder with his thumb, they were currently at the 2nd floor. "There's also my room."

"Eh? But then where will you sleep Meliodas-sama?"

"I'll use it too."

"But isn't there only a single bed?"

"It's a large double-bed so it should be fine."

"I see…" Elizabeth nodded in understanding and Meliodas seemed to be relieved that she finally understood, until…

"So Meliodas-sama and Ban-sama will be sharing a room, is it?"

...When she asked so with an innocent smile on her face, totally unaware of the gravity of her words, the world suddenly became silent and everything stood still. The princess didn't even realized the huge bomb she just dropped on them, and the worst is that she didn't meant anything bad with it.

***Crash!***

Elizabeth yelped when she heard a loud noise, she looked downward from the stairs and saw that Trista fell from her seat. Before she could rush over to her to check if she was alright, both Meliodas and Ban (who was supposed to be upward) were in front of her, blocking her (since when? She didn't even realized it).

And both in perfect unison…

""WHY SHOULD I EVEN SHARE A BED WITH ANOTHER MAN—?!""

...It was probably the most loud shout she ever heard from both of them (and also the first time that Meliodas ever raised his voice against her). For a moment, Elizabeth's vision turned white and a ringing sound went through her ears. It soon disappeared though, leaving her to deal with the two agited men in front of her.

(Diane outside woke up because of the noise before sleepily rubs her eyes and went back to sleep.)

"Princess, I don't wanna be rude, but is there something wrong with your head?"

Oh, Ban isn't speaking in a sing-song voice anymore.

"If I have to sleep with Ban then I'd rather sleep alone in the kitchen."

"Same here, so we're definitely not sleeping together!"

"I would even sleep outside rather than it!"

"Oh…" Elizabeth was even further confused, though she can understand the meaning of their words, she didn't understood the intention and why they were so desperate, what were they trying to do? What did they wanted to make her do?

At least they definitely won't share a room, so they would go in separate rooms but there is only one room by upper floor and there wouldn't be enough, so it can only mean that…

"I will go sleep outside with Diane, is it?"

""WRONG—!""

...Ah, she got denied again. And here she thought that she could keep company to Diane who whined about being the only one who slept outside.

"Why would you even go sleep outside with that exhausted body of yours? Besides it's not something that you can handle."

"No matter how we look about it, it's Cap'n and the princess who's sharing a room, right?!"

"Yep, it's the only solution allowed!"

"E-Eh? B-But…"

"And you're sharing the bed with me!"

"EEEHH?!" Before she could say anything else, Meliodas grabbed Elizabeth's hand and dragged her into their now shared room while the princess let out a flustered trail.

Hawk was speechless for a second before he quickly gasped and went after them, screaming 'What do you think you're doing, you swine?!'.

It only left Ban and Trista alone (who stood up from her lying position). Both stared blankly at the direction where Meliodas and Elizabeth (+ Hawk) went. Then after a small silence, Ban spoke as he put a hand on his forehead, "Cap'n has it rough, surprisingly"

"...I have no words to deny this." Trista answered as she sighed._ 'Or perhaps those times can be considered as more peaceful than the usual…?'_

* * *

**Side Story 1 (THE END)**

* * *

_The light of the screen was turned off and it started to grow smaller. Lights were turned on and it showed a completely destroyed room with rubbles everywhere._

Hawk (impressed): "To think that Elizabeth-chan's clumsiness can be so destructive."

Elizabeth (tearful): "Uuh… I-I am sorry, everyone!"

Hawk: "Wah! Be careful!"

_She bowed and almost hit her head against another furniture._

Meliodas: (smirk) "Well Elizabeth's clumsiness is also one of her cute side!"

Elizabeth (blush): "E-Eh? N-No way…"

Trista: "Too bad that it cannot be used as a weapon in the main story, it would have been terrific. Unexpected so it can take people by surprise, besides the addition of being defeated by such a clumsy move would deal a huge wound on our opponent's pride, especially if the other party is completely untrained."

Hawk: "You over there! Don't try to make Elizabeth-chan do dangerous things! Besides you two are also partially responsible for all that demolished stuff over there!"

Trista: "And so are you."

Hawk: "I-I was trying to stop you guys!"

Meliodas: "But you ended up making further damages."

Hawk: "Guh…! W-Why are you guys getting perfectly well just when you're berating me?!"

Trista (murmurs to the distance): "So the tragedy we started had been followed by Hawk and ended with Elizabeth, huh?"

Meliodas: "Yeah, she ended up achieving it with a bang!"

Elizabeth (shocked): "...?!"

Hawk: "D-DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT…!"

Trista: "Well, the staff would clean this mess up later on."

Elizabeth: "Poor staff-san… can't we help them in any way or other…?"

Meliodas: "Then we ask Hawk to eat it?"

Hawk: "Even if I always eat your leftovers, there's no way I would eat those rubbles!"

Meliodas: "It's no good to be picky, Scraps Captain, besides we need to help other in need, don't we?"

Hawk: "Then start by cleaning this up with your own hands—!"

_A few minutes later, off-screen…_

Trista: "Anyway, we hope that you have enjoyed today's chapter, though not from the main story and it cannot be called as a side story either…"

Hawk: "You should have said that from the very beginning instead of wasting the time like this!"

Trista: "You were the one who started by commenting onto the damages Elizabeth caused."

Elizabeth (depressed): "Auuh…"

Hawk: "Stop it, the more you speak the more Elizabeth-chan is sad!"

Trista: "Even though it was your fault?"

Hawk: "Why is this my fault?!"

Meliodas: "There, there, Elizabeth, let me comfort you!"

***Boing, boing***

Elizabeth: "KYAAA!"

Hawk: "And you over there, don't take advantage of the situation to sexually harass Elizabeth-chan again!"

Trista: "Well ignoring them…"

_Trista turned towards the spectators._

Trista: "We would like to thank once again all the readers who read this side story even, and especially the usual group of reviewers who had the kindness to review at each chapter, though the author had asked me to name them out I believe that they would without doubt be able to recognize themselves, and also another thanks for the new reviewers, you probably don't know how much it meant to the author. But there wouldn't be review corner in this chapter, it would be pushed in the next chapter of the main story. Please continue to support our main story's selves."

Meliodas: "By the way, aren't Ban and Diane, and also your mystery friend appear in this small corner?"

Trista: "They won't."

Meliodas, Elizabeth, Hawk: """...?!"""

Trista: "Or rather it isn't even confirmed that we, side story selves, would appear once again in the next side story chapter. We may just exist for this single chapter."

Meliodas, Elizabeth, Hawk: """...?!"""

Trista: "With that, goodbye everyone."

_The curtains fell on the small theater(?), covering the frozen figures of the three others while the chibi-doll-girl bowed in farewell and waved before completely disappearing behind the curtains. And then the lights shut out, and…_

Hawk: "DON'T END IT LIKE THAT—!"


	11. Capital of the Dead Arc - I

**A/N.: Hello everyone! I hope that you enjoyed this fanfic's first side story at the previous chapter! Most of them would be centered around humor category, I hope that they would be enough to make everyone laugh a bit even if the rest of the fanfic is more centered onto serious(?) matters? I am also up to take requests for the side stories from the readers! Feel free to propose what you want! I'll try my best to match up my responses with them! Because I don't think that I'll be able to personally write a side story for each 10 chapters till the end of the story… (-_-)**

**Sorry by the way for the sudden change and re-change of the "mysterious character", but now all the modifications had been done! In order to not have any confusions, please re-read the previous chapters. I am sincerely sorry if this chapter is not as good as the previous ones, or even considerably lower in ****Quality, but please forgive me for that...**

* * *

**CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - I : _A (Not) Touching Reunion_**

* * *

"It seems that my turn to appear has finally arrived—"

***Clack!***

"..."

"..."

"...Triss?"

"...What is it, Meliodas?"

"Why did you just shut the door closed?"

"..."

Yes, when Meliodas came down this morning, after an incredibly good night of sleep that recovered his strength and refreshed him from his tiredness since his little exercise with Ban, along with the soreness that come with using his power, wherever it was physical or magical, after ten long years of peace, especially with how he had to sleep with ropes surrounding him lately due to the wariness of a certain pig (but compared to the price to have Elizabeth as his body pillow, it's nothing!).

So now in a good mood, he decided to descend first and prepare his store for the beginning of another day of work. But when he walked down the stairs, he noticed two odd things that made him pause for an instant.

One, is a female voice that he didn't recognized, however he could feel that she was cut off before even finishing what she had to say. It was too early for customers to arrive, so who was it?

And another, was a curious sight that greeted him when he had entirely descended down the stairs and looked straight ahead with a blank look.

Standing there, with both her hands holding the doorknob while trembling and unmoving was a back he could easily recognize, after all only she had such long hair and was wearing such a dress.

Since she didn't answered him earlier he decided to call out to her once again, "Oi, Triss—?"

And as he spoke, at the same time…

***Bang! Bang!***

"_Come on, Trista-chan! I don't remember having done anything to receive such a terrible treatment! At least open the door, will you please?_" The banging sound from the other side of the door became louder as the voice spoke once again.

But Trista didn't acted as the voice wished to and instead put both her hands on the door, her feets spreads in a symmetrical manner on the ground as she pushed forward harder, with no intention of letting whoever was outside entering.

"...Triss."

"Stay quiet, act as if you didn't heard nor saw anything. With a little chance she would accept it and leave." Immediate response from Trista.

"_You're aware that I can hear everything, don't you?!_" ...And also from the unknown woman outside it seems. Probably that of a girl in her late teens to her early twenties? It seems to lack the deepness of a grown woman, but well it vary between people so he couldn't be fully sure of it, after all Trista who had the appearance of a young girl had a voice akin to that of a mature woman. However…

***BANG, BANG!***

The sounds were keeping on louder, and the blows hitting the other side of the door was growing stronger (even the ground and the interior of the store was trembling, the glass bottles also jumped on their shelves), to the point where Trista had to switch position and instead pushed her back with both palms against the door with her legs pushing her body backward in order to keep it closed.

Meliodas looked at the scene incredulously, looking at the creaking spiderwebs-like cracks that were forming on the door, it seems that a bit more it would be break.

Then Trista's glare was now directed back at him, "What are you staring at? Go search for a table or a closet and help me block this door!"

"_If you want to continue like this then I'll blast this door open!"_ The voice outside warned, not any hint of joke in her voice as annoyance started to replace her whines.

And taking both sides in account...

"..." Meliodas stared at her, and stared, before after a long silence, he finally came to his verdict, "Triss, just let her enter."

He ignored the grave (and rare) look on Trista's face that was directed towards him, screaming the word 'TRAITOR!' everywhere (it was rare to understand what she was thinking so easily usually). From what it seemed to be, it seemed to be one of her acquaintance so he'll let her deal with her at her own expense. Especially since he lost the energy he previously had just by looking at this display.

He originally planned to let the others sleep a little longer today, but he was pretty sure that this loud ruckus had woken all of them up. It was only a matter of time when they would come down and question the source of it, but he didn't think that he would have enough strength to even explain it to them. And if possible, he would like to Trista to hurry up and move away, the life of his door was depending on the speed of her reactions after all.

* * *

Thankfully (and surprisingly) everyone are heavy sleeper recently.

Meliodas then looked at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow with his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the glare that the still fuming Trista was sending towards him on the side. "...So? You are…"

"Oops! Sorry, sorry! I would have introduced myself far sooner if it wasn't for a certain someone's interference!" The newcomer glared at Trista who just ignored her before she bowed in greeting before grinning at them, "My name is Mira, someone who is passing by! And once again, sorry for the ruckus earlier, but if Trista-san just let me enter then none of this would happen!"

The young woman, or rather girl, who just introduced herself politely, is girl of short stature (but still taller than him and Trista) with red eyes and slightly tanned skin. Her hair is a light-chestnut brown color and is relatively short. She wears hair ornaments which ties her hair into two small bunches. She wears an extravagant foreign-looking outfit and an ornament across her waist resembling the back of an old mirror.

"It would have been better if you had just given up and went back home." The said person suddenly interrupted without missing a beat.

Meliodas felt that Trista's words were sharp enough to make someone who is weak-hearted cry in shock, but the Mira's smile didn't reacted in such a manner (her eyebrow twitched, a vein on her forehead pulsed and her smile faltered for a second though) before she immediately turned her head towards Trista.

Knowing by personal experience that it would be the beginning of another ruckus if he doesn't stop them (and some additional damages following it), Meliodas immediately spoke. "So? What are your relationship with Triss?"

The woman, or rather Mira immediately beamed at him (Wow, so bright!) at him, she put a hand on her modest chest as if she was preparing to boast about whatever she was going to say later on. "Isn't it obvious～? We are—"

"Simple acquaintances with no relation with each other."

Because of that simple sentence, Mira's cheerfulness was destroyed in an instant, even less than one second. "At least say that we're friends! And if we had no relation with each other then we wouldn't even be acquaintances! If you continue like that, I'll truly end up thinking that you hate me!"

"It's not like I liked you to begin with."

"I am begging you, please at least hold back your words a biiiiiit—!"

Meliodas looked blankly at the now pathetic two-person show that was presented in front of him. A grown(?) woman was crying waterfall, kneeling on the ground, and whining like a child throwing a tantrum without letting go of the hems of the long dress of a girl who was almost one foot or one head smaller than her. The girl seemed more annoyed by this display than anything and didn't seemed to feel the least guilty about it.

This completely destroyed her earlier graceful image.

Even if she is mainly the reason of why she is like this. But for once, Meliodas can feel himself sympathizing with Trista's situation instead of admonishing her. Which was rare, really really rare for him to do so.

_'Seriously Triss, are you being like this to absolutely everyone?'_ Such a thought almost made him sigh.

He was pretty much sure that Trista's attitude was also partially at fault, it was quite an unfriendly one after all though she doesn't mean anything bad in truth… or does she? It was hard to know, it was as if badmouthing was as easy as breathing for her. Was she even conscious of it…?

"I'll take her outside. You people can either wait for us or go first, do as you wish. In either case, I'll catch up." It wasn't long enough after Trista forcefully dragged Elwyn (who was still clinging to her) out of the Boar Hat and informed Meliodas that she will take her and the ruckus the latter was causing far away and return when things would be calmer.

Meliodas was too dumbfounded (though he didn't showed it on his face) to do anything other then waving at her and watch her off when Trista was pulling Elwyn away. ...Or rather than pulling her away, it was more like Elwyn who was being dragged since she was still clinging to Trista's dress, the latter didn't even paid her attention as she walked forward, dragging the crying woman behind her.

_—Mira..._

Though he didn't knew this woman for even a few minutes, there was already an opinion of her forming in his mind, he can even say that he has never met someone so versatile before. Thus…

"She is an idiot." He muttered so as he was scratching his hair before turning around and walked back in the shop.

And when he arrived, he was welcomed by…

"Say, Captain～! What with that ruckus since earlier?!"

"That's right, Cap'n～ Did ya picked up a baaabyyy or somethin'?"

"M-Meliodas-sama? Is everything alright?"

...He was welcomed by another ruckus, and so early in the morning. (It seems that in contrast of his hopes, his traveling companions still woke up, at least Elizabeth's presence is soothing as always).

Meliodas gave up and face-palmed.

* * *

"Seriously, what on earth was that?"

"Uuuhh～"

"Don't 'uuh' me."

There was currently a quite strange sight in the middle of town. A lone figure wearing a hooded cape was dragging a brunette's body across the floor by the collar, making a trail of dust behind them and dirtying the latter's outfit. No matter how one looked at it, the former was incredibly irritated while the latter could only whines and covers her face with her hands in embarrassment and almost crying in shame.

It was no wonder that they attracted a lot of attention, wherever one of them was a foreigner or not.

"I-I understand, it was my fault, I apologize, so please stop this treatment already!"

"How weird, I often hear you say such things but it's seems that you hardly remember to correct your mistakes."

"Please, I'm begging you! I truly feel bad for it, so please let go of me already! All those people are looking over there, it's like a torture! Please stop!"

"Don't say stupid things. Compared to real torture, this is far gentler, after all you have yet bled, have you?"

"I AM bleeding! My heart, that is! I never expected you to even drag me on the floor through the town! I'll even grovel if it's needed so please stop it! Waah～"

"Hah… I get it, I get it already so don't start to cry again. It's my ears that would start to bleed this time." Finally the girl let go of the other one with an exasperated sigh.

"Th-Thank you…" The other one wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve as she sniffed before standing up and dusting her clothes off from the dust and dirt that were sticked on them.

The girl in hood was now looking around, "Now we have no more choice but to search for a calmer place to speak."

"But it's because…"

"Don't you dare to say that it's my fault."

"...Uuh…" In the end, there was nothing that could be denied or retorted under that glare and those harsh words, so the second figure just regressed into a smaller state as if it was to hide from the first one, even though she was taller!

But as her red eyes wandered around, avoiding the still fuming girl nearby, something caught her attention. Now that she thought about it, they were in the middle of the town, so of course there would be shops, wherever it was for food or other things…

"...? What's wrong?" The hooded one approached her, questioning her sudden silence compared to the ruckus she was making earlier.

Suddenly she felt very nervous, sweat started to drip from her forehead due to her mental conflict over the fact if she should just say the truth to her or just quickly make up some random excuses. No need to say that deciding between both was quite difficult, especially under that scrutinizing gaze that doesn't seems to leave her any soon.

_'...Is that how a frog feel on the dissection table, I wonder?'_ Such a thought couldn't not wander through her mind.

"Mm…? This is…"

"Ah…!" The brunette gasped upon seeing the hooded girl now staring at the thing she was staring at earlier.

It seems that when she was being busy with those strange and thoughts befitting for the situation but totally uncalled for, and now even deciding between the two previous options would be useless.

Because of her previous actions it seems that she has already angered the hooded girl enough to the point of being to the limits of her patience (despite the fact that the girl has usually nerves of steel). The last one may be the last straw before the eruption of the bubbling volcano. And if that were to happen, only a bloody ending would await her...

She knew this girl long enough to understand that, besides the iron claw that she did to her the last evening was the most obvious proof of all. Even though there was no mark, she could still feel the phantom pain...i

_'Th-Though there may also have the possibility that such an ending be avoided, with some slight tiny bit of chance…!'_ Now all her senses were on their sharpest edge! She clenched her fists, cold sweat on her face and her hairs were standing, balanced her posture and prepared herself to any upcoming attack that may be directed to her. It felt as difficult as the more difficult and delicate missions she went through, the feeling wasn't much different from disassembling a bomb on the verge of exploading.

The alarm itself was ticking its countdown in her mind...

_Everything that needed to wait for is for her final verdict, and…!_

**…**

**…**

**…**

...She has never felt such a feeling of tension before, the silence never felt as much painful and long in her whole life, and more than anything, she has never been so scared of that little one's response. Especially since her face was inexpressive and her eyes were hidden by her bangs. And...

"...Let's go." At the beginning when she heard such a response, she thought that it was originally a joke, but seeing those heterochromia eyes being fixated over what she was looking at earlier seems to say otherwise.

...Relief or astonishment, she didn't even knew which one she was currently feeling right now. But she knew that the face she was currently making was inclining more towards the latter without even needing to look at it nor to touch her own face. And moreover the little outing that she wanted to do seems more like some kind of important mission now...

* * *

Now that she thinks about it, for Mira, the most of the time she was with Trista in the past was often for co-work, during a past before her shutting herself into her newly created library. Surely because of the fact that those two only spend time together on missions (they were often put together for reasons that she didn't understood), now the forgotten sensation started to come back to her…

""..."" Both Mira and Trista raised their gazes to face each other at the same time, as if they were just the mirror reflexion of each other, both of their expressions were filled with intense concentration, almost as if they were glaring at each other.

Mira's earlier cowardliness was nowhere to be seen, and she almost seems dignified in her current straight posture. But Trista refused to yield either, as if they were in the middle of some kind of tough mental battle.

"Trista-chan."

"What is it?" Mira started to initiate a conversation, but neither her or Trista's gaze separated from each other.

"You can't do that. Please be a little more patient."

"I believe I have been enough patient, don't you think?"

"It hasn't even been 10 minutes yet."

"10 minutes is already long enough."

"No, no, you are just to impatient!"

Then simultaneously, both of them lowered their gazes on their common target, resting on the table where they were sitting face to face.

Seeing that Trista's attention was still fixed on the 'target' between them, Mira called out to her once again. "A little more, just wait a little more!"

"..."

"Kuh…! So not even my words can reach her anymore…?!" Mira bite her lower lip in frustration and clenched her fist.

Trista was no longer in state of even responding, as if she couldn't even see nor hear Mira anymore, as she slowly but fluently moved her hand to grab a nearby 'weapon' to 'finish off her target', and stab it directly in the heart.

Seeing this, Mira was about to extend a hand to stop her or at least to guard her little protegee, when...

"—I am sincerely sorry for the wait～!"

""...!"" And at their sides, finally appeared Mira's savior, the words she previously said managed to break Trista out of her trance, giving Mira enough time to put the 'target' further in security, far away from the heterochromia girl's reach.

Trista's eyes widened upon seeing what was in the 'savior's' hands and you can almost literally feel her beam of delight. Of course she didn't smiled or anything, but the atmosphere around her was literally sparkling like thousand suns, you can even hear the 'pling, pling' sound and see the stars shining of all their lights floating around her.

The 'savior' didn't seemed to take notice of that as she smiled in a very professional way and passed to Trista a new target for her to feast on, "Thank you very much for your patience, here is another order of _mixed berries special pancakes_! Please take your time and enjoy!" The waitress said as she handed another plate of pipping hot freshly made pancakes, ornated with various fruits, whiped cream and fruits sauce.

**…**

**…**

**…**

...Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a mistake nor a auditory illusion. It's pancakes. Yes, _**PANCAKES**_.

Those famous flat cakes, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And yes indeed, those two were fighting over a single plate of pancakes before the second order arrive.

"S-Say Dear… It's me or the situation around those two girls seemed to be far more serious earlier?"

"M-Maybe you are right? I don't really know, you sure it wasn't all your imagination instead?"

"I-I wonder, maybe you are right…" So an elderly couple whispered to each other in confusion, it seems that they witnessed the scene from earlier.

_'But well, it's no wonder that they are confused by this… I am sincerely sorry.'_ Mira apologized to them in her mind as she covered face, which was crimson from embarrassment, with both her hands.

In order to understand this situation, let's rewind at around 30 minutes ago…

"...? Your pancakes are going cold."

"F-Fueh?"

"Aren't you going to eat your share? If you don't, I'll gladly have it in your stead—"

"No, no! You definitely can't! Sweets are things that I won't yield to anyone, even to you!"

"...Tch."

"You just clicked your tongue, didn't you?!"

"If so then stop losing focus, if not I will steal from your plate."

"Geez… This isn't a battlefield, you know?" Mira sighed as she took her silverware, the knife in one hand and the fork in the other, as she started to cut her pancakes into mouth-bite size.

_'Geez… At least give me the time to have a flashback properly…'_ She was a bit sullen that Trista kept on interrupting her, but the sweetness that spreaded through her palate helped her to put her bad mood asides.

Well, since there is no time for a proper flashback, there should be at least one for a small summary.

Actually what attracted Mira's attention earlier was a sign in front of a rustic-looking cafe, and as everybody guessed, it was to spread about a new recipe of pancakes that they were currently selling at their shop. Of course just like any girl worthy of such a title, Mira loved sweets and absolutely wanted to get a taste of it. And if she remembered well during their times together, or from what the others said, that Trista seems to be the same (which was confirmed when the usually serious girl accepted to waste her precious time in such a place).

However the problem that came afterwards is that after they both placed their orders (which was the same), only one arrived at the beginning. The savior… or rather, the waitress explained apologetically that due to some small problems in their kitchen tools, the second order was going to take a little more time to come out. Which ended up into a staring battle for the first plate of pancakes… She never expected for the usually mature Trista to be so childish when it came to desserts...

"*Hoff*... *hoff*...!"

"...?" Upon hearing a weird breathing sound, Mira looked up with a confused gaze before frowning sightly at the sight, the one who made such a huffing sound was none other than Trista with her mouth open as she continued those weird breaths.

_'What on earth is she doing…?'_ Mira couldn't help but wonder so before realization struck her upon eyeing the piping hot pancakes plate in front of Trista.

Compared to her own which had the time to cool down during their staring contest, Trista's was freshly fried out of the pan, so still burning hot. But it seemed that Trista couldn't wait for it to cool down and immediately ate some. Now she is suffering of the consequences.

_'Seriously… she is really hopeless, isn't she?'_ Mira couldn't help but sigh incredulously at this, this action only add to her unexpected childishness. However…

_"—In the end, food is just for satisfy the hunger and alimentate the body with energy, I hardly care of the taste."_

This overlapped with a past memory. Mira then looked straight at Trista who was unaware of her gaze, though she wasn't smiling she seemed to be so happy while eating. And this brought a warm smile on Mira's face...

* * *

"...Phew…"

"Yes, it was really delicious." When they were finished with the pancakes, both gave a sigh of satisfaction, seeming to be glad about the quality of their small meal.

Trista put her silverware on the now empty plate and Mira clapped her hands together as if she was praying whoever it is for allowing to eat something like this, a tradition of her homeland, which seems to not be the case in Western lands like Britannia.

Mira then looked at Trista in front of her, who had an unusually relaxed expression on her face, with her eyes closed and for some reason, her face chibified as she was drinking some tea. Flowers were literally floating around her along with a light fluffy atmosphere matching it, and she was pretty sure that the 'mognyomongyo'-like sound she could hear from it wasn't her imagination. That defenseless side she was showing right now was so unlike her usual self…

"Fufu…" Mira couldn't help but giggle at that, but as soon she realized her blunder it was too late already.

It as if the magic had been broken. The fluffy and warm mood around Trista dispelled in an instant, she snapped her eyes open, her face went back to normal as she settled down the teacup on its saucer plate before glaring at Mira in front of her. All of this took less of 5 seconds, yes.

"...What?"

"N-No no, it's nothing, it's just…" Mira paused a second, trying to choose her words carefully, before finally answering her. "It's just… that you have changed."

"...Changed?" Trista tilted her head on the side at Mira's answer.

"Yup, you have changed, compared to your past self." The brunette nodded with a smile as she drank some of her tea too before putting the cup back on its saucer, mirroring the actions that Trista did earlier before continuing to speak and explain herself further.

"In the past you always had an expression as if you were on the verge of falling asleep."

"...Did I?"

"You did, you did." Mira answered with a confident smile while Trista just raised an eyebrow at her words.

_'Well, it can't be helped if she isn't the one who would notice her own changement…'_ Mira thought with a wry smile. Or rather even if she were to look at her own face, Trista would surely not be able to notice the changes, she is one who neglect herself a lot after all and it seems that it didn't changed even after all those years.

She didn't have such a cold expression as she had before and even though it had yet reached to the point where she could smile, she had became more expressive than how she usually used to be. It was quite slow but it was nonetheless a progress compared to her past self, and more than anything, her eyes weren't empty like before. Besides the 'bored and indifferent' expression she used to make is far less noticeable now!

"...How are your thoughts of Britannia?"

"Well as you have said, it is quite old-fashioned, but since you said it quite a long time ago I expected things to be more, well… advanced…? Not to be impolite of course!"

"You don't have to hold back your words in consideration for me, you know?"

"B-But isn't Britannia your homeland? S-Sure it isn't as advanced as mine but, it still possess its own charms you know? A-And the food isn't bad either!"

"And you certainly don't have any reasons to try to defend it. It's not like I held any particular attachment to this place."

"..."

"...So? For forcing me to drag you into such place, away from them, you sure have a better reason than 'since it's been a while from the last time I saw you, I just wanted to catch up', right?" Mira flinched at those words, and it certainly didn't went unnoticed by Trista's sharp gaze.

"..." At the sight of Trista's stoic expression staring right at her, Mira start to fidget nervously, and after a few minutes of hesitation…

"A-Ahahaha…" So she settled with just laughing to mask her nervosity. And Trista was just keeping on watching her with her flat stare.

"..."

"Ahahaha…"

"..."

"A-Aha…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...I-It's as you said, I am terribly sorry for the bother." Mira's laughter died completely before she literally slammed her head against the table in apology, making a loud 'BANG' sound reasoning through the shop, this earned once again a few stares from the other customers, and Trista just cupped her cheek with her hand, her elbow on the table, as she gave a weary sigh.

(It shouldn't be her job to sigh yet here she is, isn't she usually the one who make other sigh?)

"By the way, I was wondering since yesterday but what with the 'You being uncute is what makes you cute'? Is that supposed to be a certain's person's imitation? Or did you finally got corrupted by that one and ended up into a masochist?"

***Tchack, tchack, tchack!***

Though Mira wanted to deny all of this, the imaginary arrow that took shapes due to Trista's words and went flying before mercilessly stabbing her head were more painful than expected and could only makes her suffers in silence.

"A-As expected is that no good after all…?" Mira mumbled weakly, her face still against, even afraid to look up and see what must be the frightening glare that Trista must be sending her right now.

But…

"...It can't be helped."

...Eh?

"Even if it's for such a reason, you went your way to come to such a faraway place, besides if I were to refuse you, you would make another annoying ruckus."

...Was she hearing correctly right now?

"Fine, I shall listen to whatever you have to say, so go ahead and speak for all the day if you want."

...It's not a dream, right?

"What's wrong? If you have nothing to say then we better stop there—"

"I have things to say, I have a LOT OF THINGS to say, so please let me talk!" Mira's mood went into a 90° degree change as she literally, she immediately stood and literally slammed her hands on the table. Her really depression completely disappeared and was changed by such an energy that makes you even wonder if it was really the same person as before.

Trista's eyes widened for a small moment before she went back to her usual expression and closed her eyes in resignation.

In normal times, it would have been a pretty sight to see, a girl like a western doll and another who looks like an eastern one, both of them weren't bad-looking, enough to make people turn their gazes, yet nobody were calling out to them, because they wouldn't get much calm and peaceful moments in this place anymore as long as those two were here… It's a miracle that they didn't even got chased out.

"B-By the way, those are sure cute clothes that you are wearing! It's also similar than what Mikado-sama often said, err... Gothic Lolita fashion... was it? From where did you get them? May I tell Mikado-sama about it?"

"..."

"Trista-chan?"

"...I'm leaving."

"E-EH?! Please wait a second, didn't you just said that you will listen—"

"_I'm leaving_."

"Like I said wait! Ah, are you going to make me pay the bill alone?! Don't run away!"

Even though Trista showed once a rare moment of open(?) kindness, Mira ended up messing it with her clumsy unnintentional but unneeded last comments and caused her to run away. By the way, Mira didn't seemed to have proper Britannian money on her so Trista had no other choice but to go back at the cafe after hearing a recognizable cry, when she was halfway through the town, and pay for both of them. Seriously, that klutz...

* * *

"...So how come you ended up returning at dusk?" Meliodas frowned at them, his arms crossed, as he was standing in front of the shop, which didn't moved from its initial place since morning.

Trista blinked at him blankly twice while Mira behind her hanged her head in guilt.

"So Triss, do you have anything to say?"

"So you put the shop on wait here all this time?"

"This isn't the answer I expected. How about you try again?"

"Even though I said that you guys could go ahead and we will catch up."

"Elizabeth and Diane insisted on staying because they were worried about you. Ban, him, was more interested over how you will catch up to us, and how long you'll take."

"...Worried?" Trista raised an eyebrow at this, acting as if this was the first time that someone said this to her.

Meliodas didn't noticed this though as he continued to speak without pausing, "Yeah, worried. But still you sure can't catch a clue, can you? This is the moment where you should apologize."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is, seriously, how on earth were you raised to even be like that—"

"—AAAAA—AAAAAH—AAAAHHH—!" Mira, who was silent this earlier, suddenly forced herself between Meliodas and Trista before screaming out all the air of her lungs and shaking her arms with an incredible energy, as if she was trying to cover what Meliodas was about to say with her own voice.

This caused both Meliodas and Trista to now focuses their attention on her and looks at her as if she was some kind of wonder of the nature.

Suddenly she felt herself blushing in embarrassment once again, "E-Err… That is… U-Um…"

"I was thinking that since this morning, but… you sure are a noisy woman, aren't you?"

"Indeed, even at the cafe she was making such a ruckus, all the customers' eyes were only on us."

"T-Trista-chan is partially at fault for this!"

Despite the accusation she received, the doll-like girl only responded with nothing other than calmness. "Even though you were the only one who was making noise? I, don't remember having even raised my voice like you even once, though?"

"...?!"

"Triss, did you had to deal with such an noisy one often?"

"Indeed, wherever it is now or in the past, she was always such a klutz crybaby."

"I see, I can almost sympathize with you now, at least you would know how I feel don't you?"

"I am pretty sure that I am nowhere as noisy as she is."

"But the headache that you gives me are as comparable."

"I see, if so then I shall try to be more careful about it from now on."

"Triss…! You have finally understood, didn't you?!"

"Look like it is the case."

Between Meliodas who seemed to be incredibly moved and Trista who solemnly looked downward, Mira's shoulders started to tremble, her irritation boiling more than her tears as she screamed towards the heavens. "WHY ARE BOTH OF YOU SO MUCH IN SYNC ONLY WHEN YOU ARE BAD-MOUTHING ME—?!" Her cries were reasoning even through the faraway mountains.

Both Meliodas and Trista looked at each other before nodding and then pointed at Mira while speaking in perfect sync, ""Because you are a top-notch teasing material."" They said it as if it was the most obvious of things, with a perfectly straight face devoid of any hesitation, and of course the only reaction they would get from it is...

"What on earth does that even mean?!"

In the end, it was decided that Mira would be allowed to stay for a few days.

"Because if I were to refuse she would literally drown the whole town with her tears."

"Wow, that would be an amazing record."

"Even I wouldn't go as far!" But even though she was whining, Mira actually felt a bit relieved deep down, it seems that Trista didn't got to hear the end of Meliodas' words, and it was really a good thing. Because no matter how composed she looked, even she wouldn't have taken those words well... _especially if they are from HIM of all people._

* * *

"Uuh… It was horrible…"

"A-Are you alright, Mira-san?"

"*Sniff* Thank you very much, Princess Elizabeth."

In the end, Mira was offered a party filled with food and ale, something that she should be happy about, after all parties are for joyous festivities and celebrations, and the fact that despite her being a total stranger they were all welcoming her with open arms was something she should be rejoiced with, yet…

"Cheers to Mira, Triss' crybaby klutz friend!"

...Yes, she would have been happy, if it weren't for that thing that Meliodas said! Trista didn't even denied her being her 'friend' this time! It should have been something she should be happy about but she can't even feel the satisfaction or joy from it now! And yet, and yet…!

...Which lead to the situation where she was comforted by Elizabeth who handed her a handkerchief (Diane didn't counted as she was always Meliodas' ally, it seems that love truly made people blind, huh?).

Since Mira wanted to exit the scene quickly before her heart suffer even more from those merciless comments and that her waterworks start to waterfall again. It seems that the Sins want to continue their party and even Trista stayed behind this time (why did she felt that they were only using her 'welcoming' as an excuse to drink?), so Elizabeth decided to show her the 'room' she was going to use from now on.

"Unfortunately we don't have enough spare rooms for everyone here, so Trista-san said that she would share one with Ban-sama for now so the attic that she used is now for you to use." At the beginning there was some hesitation against such a decision by the gallery but after both Ban and Trista assured with an absolute certainity that 'Nothing would happen, or rather

"...Attic, huh…?"

Seeing her murmurs to herself like this with a pensive look on her face, Elizabeth thought that she wasn't satisfied with her situation and thus proposed an alternative instead, "Ah, of course if you don't like it I can sleep in the attic and—"

Mira literally flinched at that as she quickly shook her head and hands in denial, "No, no, it's fine! If I were to let you sleep in such a place, it would be who would be killed!"

"Eh? Killed? Why?" Elizabeth tilts her head in confusion as Mira start to sweat in response and awkwardly averted her gaze in return, refusing to meet the pure and innocent princess' one who didn't understood her insinuations.

"N-No, nevermind…"

_'Besides even if I were to say it she wouldn't believe me!'_ Because people like her would probably never doubt someone she put her trust into. And Mira was also afraid of what might happen to her if she were to say it.

When they arrived, Elizabeth opened the door of the attic and allowed Mira to see the interior of it. As expected, it was truly an attic, one where you would stuff all the things you don't need but can't throw away yet, there was an rusty armor in it and all kind of other things.

However the books that were all out of the empty bookshelf and were forming some kind of messy circle, empiled one over the other into a clumsy tower, making one wonder why it wasn't falling off.

She couldn't help but laugh at this, easily recognizing the culprit behind such an action. "Ahaha! This side of her didn't changed at all…"

In the past they shared too, that girl used to take out all the books at once, reading them on the floor instead of a chair, pile them one by one into some kind of tower each time she was finished with one and left them like this without putting them back to their original places on the shelves.

In the end, it was HER who had to clean behind during times like this, and no matter how many times she complained or scolded the girl, she never stopped that weird habit of hers.

"Excuse me, but what did you…?"

"Ah, I'm sorry this is nothing, I was just remembering the past a bit. Thank you very much, I'll be alright now, you can feel free to head downward." Mira hastily smiled at Elizabeth and explained, not wanting to worry or confuse the princess due to her accidentally voicing out her thoughts.

Elizabeth agreed with a smile and bidded her a good night with Mira watching her off before closing the door behind.

"Princess Elizabeth, huh? I understand why she, no, they are so protective of her, she is such a good child…! And probably the only normal one in this group…" Mira smiled wearily as she realized that each time she would end up being depressed due to Trista or Meliodas' teasing… which is just bullying to her, she would end up going to complain to Elizabeth's place. She felt bad for forcing the girl to put up with her but at the same time relieved that there is such a saint-like existence still present and to such a place, even!

She walked towards the pile of books on the floor before picking them up one by one and placing them back onto the shelves.

Since she just came, she doesn't know how they were placed originally and all the books were not from the same serie, she decided to separate them by color first. If she was wrong then she can always correct herself when the right time would come.

She then turned around and took a good look at the space around her. The attic was so much filled with spacious things that there was hardly any free space, even with the spot she just cleaned.

It was hard to move.

It was slightly hard to breath.

It felt restraining…

Not even enough place for a bed, even for a sofa…

She knew that she was the one who agreed to stay here in first place so she can't go back against her decision now but…

_'All this time, since the beginning of their travel, did she always lived in such conditions?'_ Mira sat on the only free spot on the floor, as expected, it was cold and hard, so much that she felt that her back would hurt next morning.

She could hardly imagine herself sleep in such conditions, being used to sleep on a bed. Even if it was an hard bed, it was still far better than sleeping on the floor. She was pretty sure that if she asked such a thing, they would surely indulge her demand.

_'But it isn't the case for the one who was occupying this place the previous few nights.'_ Mira thought as her as her fingers traced over the surface of the wooden floor.

In the past too, for some reason, that girl would always refuse the bed in order to sleep on the floor, saying things like 'I can't get used to bed'. Her past and naïve self thought that it was because that girl was too cautious, or that she was showing a considerate side by letting her having the bed, but it wasn't that at all…

It's just that for that girl, sleeping on the hard and cold floor instead of a warm and soft bed was the most normal of thing. She was so used to it that she never thought about changing that habit. If she were to choose between a free and warm bed on one side and the floor with nothing, not even a blanket on the other side, she would probably choose the latter instead of the former.

It was sad, truly… And the girl herself doesn't even notice that, she probably thought that if she could handle to sleep in the attic then so would Mira, but she was wrong. And the worst is that all the people around her are all convinced that this is fine this way, without questioning even the decision… just like how her past and naïve self was… It's amazing about how you end up realizing things when time pass which you could never understand before, and how regretful she felt because of her careless past actions.

Her seeming to be alright don't mean that she truly is, even the fact of someone being worried about her sounds weird to her, and they should already have passed over that stage back then, and yet…! It was as if that girl has reversed into the time when she first met her. What on earth happened during those last few decades when they didn't saw each other…?

"Besides, in the end, we never got to do any serious talk, didn't we…?" Mira murmured in a pensive manner as she leaned her back against the wall and sat down, there wasn't even enough place to lie down here, just a bit she felt annoyed but it's also her fault for coming unannounced and forcing herself in.

There were a lot of things which that girl missed over the few previous years, and also a lot of things that they stops learning about her situation as for some reason she cut all ways of communication 10 years ago. And also about the matter of **_'Lilliel'_**, it was incredible that this girl who was usually so sharp ended up forgetting about it, especially after the serious reaction she gave when she mentioned it last time.

_'As expected she truly changed…'_ She originally thought it to be a good thing, but unfortunately changes don't always only bring the good parts.

"Please tell me, Professor… am I doing it correctly?" Slowly, as faint as a whisper, Mira called out the name of her mentor, senior and superior… or rather previous superior. One who especially cares about that girl, and one who is no longer in this world… How on earth would _that girl_ react if she were to tell her this? Right now Mira can only lament over how own weakness and fear for when the time would come...

* * *

**A/N.: Here is the finally awaited character who kept on being introduced during the previous chapters yet never had her name revealed up until now! She is acting childish in contrast of her mature(?) appearance (at least more than Trista's), which create quite a contrast with Trista who seems to be her opposite. Today's chapter is mostly focused on her point of view and with some things about another side of Trista instead of the "doll-witch shut in her library". Hopefully having her in the group even temporarily would add more spices to the story… But remember that I am bad at writing actions scenes so please forgive me for my clumsiness..**

**[REVIEW-ANSWERING CORNER]**

**\- _fantasy.92's review at chapter 9:_** "I love it! Can't wait to know more about the new character. Update when you can"

_**A.:** _Here she is! I hope that she will be to your liking! Sorry if she is different than the one I previously talked about, but I have my reasons about it, I promise! ...I hope...

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 9 and 10:**_ "PLovely introspection and dialogues, can't wait for next chapters. Don't worry, i can be quite patient."

"Lovely chapter about this family, dialogues are introspection are really improving, can't wait for more."

_**A.:**_ I'm glad that you liked the chapters, I hope that you will continue to like them from now on and thank you very much for your Praises!

**_\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 9 and 10:_ **"Ah, I don't mind at all with more Elizabeth POV here and I really love the Melizabeth chemistry here~ Trista, just let them hug at least, they need it, should you interrupt like that? *huff

also the part 'I am busy right now, let's push it to a later date' with a straight face, I can imagine it, it's so Trista *chuckle. Keep at the good work!"

"Ahahahaha! I like the show *give_applause

You know, dirty-minded people maybe mistook the very first part (not me, I mentioned my little brother who got perverted after reading the first part before I knock him with my book) but still, I love this. I'd like to say that my favorite part was how Meliodas interacted with Trista like an adult treated child and the part where he went with polite manners to Elizabeth but ended up being pervert pfft"

_**A.:**_ I didn't meant to write anything's dirty so it makes me a bit awkward when it's misunderstood (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄ , glad that you like Trista's attitude though! I have also seen that the number of your Nanatsu no Taizai fanfic keep on growing! Good luck with it!

_**\- Guest's review at chapter 2, 3 and 7:**_ "Well isn't this a gem"

"Am pretty gem indeed"

"Lovely fic it's very well paced and you've got a great base going it's also well written and it's not following any clear cliche I'm glad Iv find this a very nice gem you've made"

_**A.:**_ To even say it 3 times in one row...! Thank you very much, I'll try my best to polish it into something that you would continue to like!

_**\- believergirl62's review at the Author's Note: **_"I don't think you should feel that bad about doing modifications if you truly feel it needs it in certain spots because it just means that you want to make sure that you are really happy with it and you want to completely make sure that it's perfect basically. I really look forward to the next update when it's ready."

_**A.:**_ ...Thank you very much! You don't know how much your words make me feel moved, to the point of crying tears of joy! I was always worried about this side of myself and each time I apologized I hardly, and close to never, received any responses about that so I thought that the readers were fed up with me, really thank you so much! I'll try my best to write a fanfic that would please you until the end! (TT_TT) Besides it's been a while since your last review, thank you really much for responding again!


	12. Capital of the Dead Arc - II

**A/N.: Hello everyone! It's been a while! I am sorry for the lack of update the previous month, I had exams and studies, it was quite tough to do during the confinement but we somehow managed online! In the end, the fanfic I am the most focused on is this one, and I hope I will never have to give up on it like I did with all my other unfinished fanfics! Such a thing will probably not happen though.**

**I must apologize once again for the publication of another chapter without battle scenes, but I will try to do some for the next chapter so please be generous on the judgement about it. I hope that you will enjoy this chapter too.**

* * *

**CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - II : _Storm's Brewing_**

* * *

_"—A lick will add 10 years to your life～ A swallow will add a hundred! Drink it all and you'll live forever—!"_

_"—I'm protecting the fountain. From bandits like you—"_

"Hnggh～" Ban groaned in his sleep as he started to stir awake. His eyelids trembled as he held back a yawn. Here he was, dreaming about memories of a few decades in the past. A precious memory that not even his fellow Sins knows about. It was so dear to him that he remembered every single detail, that he wouldn't mind seeing the same thing over and again...

"—_For the last time, nothing happened at all_—"

...Though that part shouldn't be present in this moment… or rather was there even such a sentence and voice in his memories of that time? ...How weird, could it be that he didn't remembered as well as he thought?

"—_Didn't I already told you over and again that nothing happened? Besides you were there, staring holes at me, during the whole time, wasn't you? Because of it, I didn't even managed to get any sleep. Of course I could just ignore you but unfortunately, I'm more closer to your side than theirs, which means that I'm more sensible to beings like you_—"

...Wow, his dream was taking a weird turn. For some reason each time he tried to ignore it and focuses back on his memories, the voice keep on coming through. And worst, it was even covering the words in his memories! Resulting into both his and his beloved's childish voice to be replaced with one that seems to be to belong to an adult woman's! And moreover it felt too weird! The memories and the voice aren't matching at all! It felt utterly wrong and it didn't made any sense!

(In modern time, the feeling that Ban is having right now can be compared to visioning one of your favorite movie but hearing the sound belonging to a completely different thing, making a weird contrast, well it's that kind of feeling.)

Ban heard a voice nearby, he raised an eyebrow in his sleep in confusion, it felt at the same time like a voice he could recognize and at the same time no. So the slow and greasy gears of his half-asleep mind took time to turn before he finally gave up since it was too bothersome and decided to go back to his comfortable sleep.

"—_Wait a second_—"

Yes, wait a second. For some reason, Ban started to frown in his dream. Seriously, what was going on? He knew that dreams can't be controlled easily but he at least hoped that he would be able to take out what he don't like but even so it's still persistently following him like some kind of hungry dog he remembered as a kid, chasing after him fiercely for the food he stole back then, both of them were hungry like hell and refusing to yield at each other.

***Tap, tap, tap…***

...And now footsteps. Okay, this surely isn't a dream, Ban finally reached such a thought. His consciousness start to left the world of the dreams and clear up, much to his disappointment that his attempts at forcing his mind to return to sleep was ruined.

He could feel the sunlight through his eyelids and groaned as he stretched himself up and…

***BAM—Woosh—***

_'...What the heck was that?'_ He was sure that he just hit something with his wandering arm due to the noise, and felt a slight wind-like movement along with the sound of something falling through the power of gravity, yet it suddenly stopped at a inch away from his face.

Was this a prank from Cap'n…?

_'...Yeah, it's highly possible.'_ Ban thought so then opened drowsily his eyes, knowing his mischievous best friend, the possibility is very high, if not absolute. After all both him and himself were similars on this side, which allowed them to get along so well as best buds. So even though he could easily avoid it, he decided to do against this and humor him.

(He won't hesitate to return the favor two-folds right after though.)

So Ban opened one eye…

"..."

"..."

...Then he opened the other, blinking of both as his eyes widened and his breath stopped in a stupefied manner.

Why, you ask? Here is the answer…

One centimeter away from his nose, was a glass bottle (he would always recognize his favorite ale brand which he brought back into this room, now the question is why it is here, not on the shelf but unmoving against his face?) hanging like some kind of guillotine blade ready to cut his throat at any moment… though it was not located over his throat.

And the one who was holding the tip of the bottle by a hand like an executor ready to cut the rope holding the guillotine up with the hatchet and standing above him was none other than…

"...What you're doin', Lil' Miss?" Ban asked that with an incredulous voice, lacking his usual sing-song tune. It was because it was too unexpected for him, she was the one he expected the least to do something like this of all people.

"Good morning." Trista didn't bothered to answer him and instead gave her morning greetings.

"No, seriously what you're doing Lil' Miss?"

"Wrong answer. When someone is offering you a 'Good morning', isn't it obvious? I thought that even bandits like you should know that much."

"...Are you my mom or what?"

"Wrong answer again."

***PAF!***

"Oww!"

And with that single statement, in an extreme swift and fluid movement, the bottle was dropped, or rather smashed against his nose. ...Well, it wasn't like there was much distance between him and the bottle in first place. ...And even though he made a reaction, it didn't hurt as much as his captain's body blows, besides he's immortal too so it would heal in no time, rather it's already healing… now if only she had the kindness to stop forcing that bottle in his face…

"You just lost your freebie. Here, one more time."

"...Mornin'."

***PAF, PAF, PAF!***

"What the heck?! Didn' I just said what you waaanted?!"

"Don't forget the 'good' at the beginning, it's quite important after all."

"How so?!"

"There is a difference between a word meant to describe a moment of the day and a morning greeting. Now, repeat."

"...'Good morning'."

"Yes, good morning." After he finally repeated it like she wanted, though with a disinterested voice, but it seems to satisfy her enough (thankfully).

With that she finally pulled off the bottle stuck to the skin of his face, Ban feel that this sensation was utterly similar to the one of pulling off a band-aid covering a wound. He didn't even needed a mirror to know that his nose was beet red right now, he was pretty sure that some of his skin was ripped off by the same occasion, besides it was stinging a bit too, though that feeling soon disappeared too.

The girl simply walked away, her footsteps being steady and graceful. If it weren't for her foul language, she would be almost thought as dignified, and this comes from a bandit like himself who hardly care about such things and has barely any sense of aesthetic (or so he get told by others).

That's right, if she were just to shut up and stay still then she would be almost seen as a real masterpiece of a doll. A good background scene would make it look like that of a painting and probably many people would sell all their royalties to try and buy her in an auction… and just to send her back to the shop while begging them to take her back because of her uncontrollable foul language and nasty attitude.

"...You, did you just thought something terribly rude?"

"Me? Nope, nothin'～" Ban just averted his gaze away from Trista's glare with a smile on his face as he started to whistle.

Though unconvinced, Trista decided to let the matter off, but...

"...It's seriously the weirdest assassination attempt I've ever received～"

"How rude."

***BAM!***

"Guhah...?!" Ban cried in a mix of pain and surprise at the bottle that went flying to him like some kind of arrow and stabbed, or rather smashed against his face, breaking into shards, the leftover brown-colored ale covering his head, dripping from his cheeks and sticking wet to his hair.

"Because of your sudden movement, the glass bottle was about to fall on your head. So I rushed there to catch it in time before it hit you." So she explained while clapping her hands together as if she was trying to clean them. Totally uncaring her earlier actions.

"You're saying thaaat but you smashed it against my faaace, didn't you～ And not one or two time."

"You reap what you sow."

"Even though it's technically your faaault～?"

"That may be my doing, but those are actions you brought up yourself."

"But it isn't good to plaaay with food～"

"Oh, but aren't you happy? To be covered with your favorite drink."

"..."

"...What is it?"

_'...Like Cap'n said, this girly sure has an answer to anything, doesn't she?'_ Ban thought wryly though he was more amused than annoyed, and a bit an hard time to hold himself back from laughing, either from exasperation either from humor.

Meliodas said himself that common sense doesn't apply to this girl, coming from an extraordinary abnormal man like Meliodas who defy the laws of common sense himself many times and over to declare something like this about a doll-like girl who seems to spend more her time as a shut-in than outside, she must be pretty incredible.

And she is…

Pretty out of the normality, that is.

If the captain is someone who defy the laws of common sense with his physical abilities unbefitting for the child he looks like to be (though he didn't changed when compared to the one his memories of 10 years ago), then this girl would be one who break through those limits with her weird way of thinking and her strange mentality.

Even a bandit and a criminal like him had a certain degree of common sense, thanks to that he knows how the world work around him and a part of it had helped him to survive up until now. However while this girl has some understanding over common sense, she doesn't apply them.

At one moment you may think that she understand but just after you understand she doesn't. Or rather, she would instead think that her way of thinking is normal. So the kind of 'I am correct and you are wrong no matter the circumstances'... the worst is that she's trying to unconsciously brainwash you to think the same as she does.

Try to turn her words against her and it would come back right to you in a single swing. Though she always deny it, maybe the title of 'Witch' isn't so ill-suited for her…

"...Hm? That's right, Lil' Misssss…"

"If you have time to speak, why not try to clean yourself—"

If he were to let her continue, she would surely start a whole different matter so Ban decided to cut her out before she can ever brainwash him to forget about what he wanted to say.

"Who you were talkin' to earlier～?"

"..."

"Lil' Miss～?"

Suddenly the girl turned around, not facing him anymore as she walked away.

"Oi, don't ignore meee～"

"...No one."

"Huh? C'mon, you were definitely talking—"

"It must be your imagination."

"No, no, like I said—"

"It must be your imagination."

"Lil' Mi—"

"It. Must. Be. Your. Imagination." ...It seems that no matter how much he ask, she would never answer.

"...I see."

"Yes." And with that, Trista clapped the door behind her without even glancing back at Ban.

Ban waited for one second… two second… and…

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!"

...He exploded in laughter. So much that tears were about to come out. Of course he knew that nobody in normal would laugh at such a thing from earlier, but unfortunately he is also among the 'abnormal' people like his Captain and this Little Lady.

Besides it reminded him so much of the first time he met his captain when the latter came to recruit him, and then about how he unexpectedly got thrown out through the wall of his prison with a single punch, just like how she threw the ale bottle at his face with a single swing.

"Gahaha! She's tiny, green-eyed (only one of them though) and blonde and abnormal just like Cap'n～!" He couldn't help but notice those similarities despite their striking different personalities.

And when the thought of a possibility about a female version of Meliodas existing somewhere in this world appeared in his mind, Ban was thrown into another fit of laughter that wouldn't calm down any soon.

* * *

"—_BWAHAHAHAHAHAAH_—!"

"Seriously… Why Ban is so noisy so early in the morning?" Meliodas wondered as he raised his gaze upward and frowned at the ceiling, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wonder if something good happened to him?" Elizabeth, near him, wondered as she tilted her head on the side in confusion, also staring at the ceiling reasoning with Ban's laughing voice to the point where the light stuck on the feelings started to tremble and waver.

Both of them woke up after Hawk went to wake them up (the pig rushed here of all his strength to be in their rooms before Meliodas had even the time to do anything to Elizabeth after she untied him from his ropes the morning) and they were currently in the hall. Meliodas was behind the bar counter, while Elizabeth was standing face to him, from the other side of the counter.

"Instead of that, hurry up and start breakfast, Meliodas! I'm starving so much that I'll even bear to eat your disgusting scraps so hurry!" Hawk huffed angrily, he went his way to wake up those swines and yet none of them were grateful for this! (Of course, Elizabeth is an exception, being the angel that she is to Hawk's eyes, among all those demons.)

Meliodas just glanced at the pig before he nodded to himself with a long hum as if he just understood something.

_'Mm? He's strangely obedient today…'_ Hawk thought to himself, Meliodas never just silently agreed to do what he was asked to, so Hawk expected him to just throw another of his annoying and threatening answer to turn him into roast pig but yet it wasn't coming… Did Elizabeth's kindness finally rubbed on him?

_'...How weird, even if this possibility is something I should be happy about, for some reason, I have a bad feeling.'_ After all if Elizabeth's good habits truly rubbed off on him then shouldn't he become more gentlemanly and stopped his all-day groping on her. But that thought itself was pretty disgusting and hard to imagine, it didn't fit his image at all.

Hawk start to get depressed that since knowing Meliodas for the ten last years, he became so used to the blond's personality that he couldn't imagine him being anyone else, even if his personality were to become better!

But when Meliodas finally opened his green eyes (since when did he closed them?) and turned his serious gaze to him, Hawk felt a feeling of dread going through his stomach.

"Hawk…" Meliodas began, his voice unusually deep, Elizabeth behind, gulped in anticipation at his next words, and…

"I never took you for a masochist! Since you always hit me, I thought that you were more towards a S. Never once did I thought that you would ask personally to be turned into a roasted pig and be eaten by us. However don't worry, we won't forget your sacrifice. I'll definitely won't let your meat go wasted."

***CRACK***

...How weird, even though nothing fell, there was like a sound of broken glass somewhere, Elizabeth couldn't help but try to search for it by looking around her, but didn't found anything. ...Well of course she wouldn't manage to find anything, since the 'object' that cracked was not something that was physical… Because it was none other than—

"AS EXPECTED YOU WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU SWINE—!"

—Yes, it was none other than Hawk's patience that just cracked.

Without waiting for an answer, Hawk used his whole body strength to slam his round side to Meliodas' stomach, making the man cry out a 'Guhuu!' before he went flying and crashed into the wall, making a crack into the wall of the pub, and making pieces of woods flying everywhere.

"M-Meliodas-sama!" Elizabeth cried out in a mix of shock and worry over his well-being, quickly running to him in order to check his current condition.

"Tch! I need some fresh air to fix my mood, call me when food will be done!"

"Ah, Hawk-chan...!" Before Elizabeth could call him back, Hawk already pushed the door open and left, puffing out an red of anger.

Just how can a pig open a door? Elizabeth wondered so for a second (now that she think about he could do a lot of thing that normal pigs shouldn't be able to), but soon remembered the situation with a gasp and turned back to Meliodas. "M-Meliodas-sama! A-Are you alright?"

"...If I say 'no', will you let me grope you?"

"E-Eh?!" Elizabeth blushed slightly at Meliodas' suggestive look which matched his perverted grin as he start to make groping movement with his empty hands, and as she was struggling to answer...

"Of course she wouldn't, idiot."

"Mmh? Oh, Triss. Morning!" Meliodas looked up and grinned.

Indeed, the one who came down the stairs in a graceful and elegant manner was none other the doll-like girl with heterochromia. However you can say that her mannerisms and appearance aren't a match for her words and personality.

When she reached the same floor as them, she looked at Meliodas with a stern gaze. "Don't you have better things to do? This level is nothing for you, isn't it? If so then stop wasting your time into trying to take advantage of the situation and stand up, or do you want to keep on dirtying your clothes like this? And good morning."

"Ahaha, that's quite a late good morning!" Meliodas stood up in a jump which earned a surprised 'Kyaa!' from Elizabeth due to his sudden and fluid movement despite being body-blowed just now.

He brushed his clothes off of the dust and dirt while heaving a sigh as he turned towards Elizabeth and grinned. "Sorry Elizabeth, because of Triss' interference, look like we have to leave the fun things to another time!"

_'Wh-What does he means by "fun things"?'_ Though Elizabeth didn't understood what he was meaning by that, for some reason the moment upon she heard those words, her blush became more deep and spread further and she couldn't do anything to calm it down.

""...""

"...!" She then noticed that it was too quiet and noticed that both Meliodas and Trista were staring at her. And having both against her felt really unsettling...! Especially with Trista's flat stare and Meliodas' knowing smile... or rather, why did he even had such a smile?! Somehow it felt twice as much embarassing! She then noticed that she had yet given her morning greeting to Trista and hastily stood up (and almost tripping during the process), before bowing quite down as if she wanted to hide her blushing face.

"G-Good morning, Trista-san!"

"Good morning, Elizabeth." And it was over with that single greeting. Much to her relief, neither Trista and Meliodas didn't pried further in this business, though Meliodas seemed to be strangely satisfied for some reason, why on earth?

"It can't be helped! Since both Ban and the newbie (Mira) are sleeping in and didn't woke up after the Hawk Wake Up Call and who know how long we're gonna keep on waiting? I guess that I'll have no choice but to cook myself!"

"Huh? Meliodas is cooking?"

""Eh?"" Hearing Trista's surprised voice and seeing her confused expression caused both Meliodas and Elizabeth to look at her in shock at the unexpected reaction.

"Triss, why you're being shocked for? Did you never tasted my cooking before?"

"I don't remember so at least…"

'Is that a joke?' Such a thought crossed Meliodas' mind, but after seeing the genuine confusion on Trista's face, it seemed it was really true.

But wait a second, now that he thought about it, Trista's sleeping hours weren't adjusted like their and she often took food to eat on her own, so they didn't even ate together…? That's explain a lot of things about how he felt that something was missing during those moments…

"So Triss never tasted my cooking before…"

"Like I said, it's what I have been saying since earlier. Why are you keeping on repeating yourself?" Trista raised an eyebrow at Meliodas' thoughtful expression.

Elizabeth, who had been left out of the conversation, felt a bit of mixed feelings about it. She felt guilty about how she didn't noticed that Trista never ate Meliodas' cooking either but she can't help but feel a slight sense of relief about it, the first taste is the most striking one and it took Elizabeth all she could in order to not spit it out at the first bite.

And yet, she could tell when she saw the large grin (not one that gave a good feeling) spreading itself on Meliodas' face, that he wasn't going to left this situation unchanged.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Meliodas suddenly cheered, almost too cheerfully to be good, as he headed towards the kitchen while taking large steps, "In order for her to not be left out, let's let Triss finally taste a bit of my cooking too!"

"..."

"...Elizabeth? Your skin is pale. Is there something wrong?"

"N-No, there is nothing, nothing at all…" At that moment, Elizabeth cursed herself for not daring to warn Trista about Meliodas' dreadful cooking nor being able to prevent Meliodas from cooking at all… She was used to eat it and can bear herself to eat it but it couldn't be said about someone else. However, it was only later when Meliodas was done with cooking, that the unimaginable happened.

* * *

"B-By the way Trista-san, were you sure that it was fine for you to sleep in the same room as Ban-sama the previous night?" Elizabeth asked so, both in an attempt to change the subject of the conversation and also because she was curious of it. Even if Trista said that she was fine with it, if she was just forcing herself for their sake then it mustn't be something that should continue.

However Trista just looked back at her curiously and tilted her head on the side, "I already said that I was fine with it, why are you keeping on repeating yourself?"

It seems like she truly didn't understood what Elizabeth was trying to insinuate, so Elizabeth poked her fingers together awkwardly before finally bracing herself and spoke up despite her blushing cheeks. "W-Well, that is… Th-Though I am not doubting about Ban-sama or anything, for two unmarried people of opposite gender to share a room is a bit… well…" And with that her voice died down as she looked downward in an embarrassed manner.

Trista, her, was looking at Elizabeth in an incredulous manner. This expression her face showed a mix of shock about the words Elizabeth just uttered and the fact even simple words like this could make her feel embarrassed, she can't help but imagine how Elizabeth had felt during her education as a princess, especially with the talk of how 'babies aren't born from cabbages'.

But more importantly…

"Elizabeth… You are aware that you, who has done the same thing, have no right to criticize me, right?"

"...!"

"Besides, he and me didn't slept together but separetedly, compared to you guys."

" I-I just shared a bed with Meliodas-sama, nothing beyond that happened!"

"...I didn't said anything to such an extend though? So why are you panicking so much?"

"U-Uuh…!" Elizabeth covered her burning hot cheeks with her hands, as if she was trying to keep them from becoming even redder and she made herself smaller and smaller, avoiding Trista's gaze.

Indeed, it was quite embarrassing now that she thought of it and she was so nervous at the beginning that she couldn't fall asleep at all (compared to Meliodas who seemed to have slept very well), but before she knew it the next time she opened her eyes, Meliodas was staring right at her with a smile. Her sleeping face had been seen! And moreover she didn't knew what kind of face she was making when she was asleep, hopefully it isn't an embarrassing one… and for Meliodas to be the one to see it of all people…!

_'And here she is back in her own world, huh…?'_ Trista stared at Elizabeth being flustered on her own as she heaved a sigh. She had witnessed this during these last few days and from her experience, once a girl enter into her 'Maiden World', she wouldn't come back any soon. And trying to force her to return is only a waste of time.

"Here it's done Triss! Now eat up, eat up!" Meliodas came back in a really cheerful manner as he was hoping like some kind of hare and slide a plate on the counter's table.

Trista approached and raised an eyebrow over the plate that was presented to her, "This is… what?" Of course she couldn't see what it is, because the plate itself was covered by a stainless steel food cover for reasons that were unknown to her, so instead of questioning the content, her words were more directed towards questioning his intention of hiding the content of the plate.

See? Even Elizabeth behind her, who finally got a hold of herself and peeked over Trista's shoulder, just threw a confused look at Meliodas.

However Meliodas just smiled wider at their confused looks as if he was enjoying it or it was exactly the reactions he expected and wanted to. He then gestured at the seat on his opposite side with his hand and urged Trista to sit down. "Come on, Triss! Go ahead and sit! You don't want to make my food waiting, do you?"

"...Why is the food the one who need to wait?"

"Don't care about such insignificant things and hurry up and sit down instead. Now, sit, sit!" He repeated as he tapped the table twice with his hand.

"I am not a dog." Trista complained but she still sat down while grumbling. Elizabeth hesitated to sit down too or to stand up, but she decided the latter, in order to avoid just in case, whatever would be threw back to her (in the literal health sense).

"Now… are you ready, Triss?!"

"Why are you being so enthusiastic about it?"

"Nothing, nothing. Okay, I'll open it!" Meliodas ignored Trista's suspicious frown as he placed his hand grabbed the ring attached to the top of the lid and raised it up, pure white light was what spilled out this time—or so it looked. That very moment, white steam spilled out from inside, flowing onto the table in a dramatic manner before it quickly disappeared into the thin air. And what was before Trista was none other than…

"...A pie?"

"Yeah! The Boar Hat's speciality, meat pie made from Dusk Bison meat! Since Triss likes sweets, I thought that I'd make you a pie!"

"But a meat pie isn't sweet at all."

"Don't care about such small details, now now, eat, eat!"

Trista wanted to retort that it wasn't a 'small detail' at all but sat down nevertheless when a fork had been thrust right in front of her face. She took it and stared down at the pie, not touching it but just staring at it silently.

"..."

"What's wrong, Triss? Hurry up and eat up!"

"...Is it really a normal pie?"

"How rude, I didn't poison it or anything! So hurry up and eat up!"

"No, it's just that based on the reactions of your recent customers…"

"Everybody have different tastes so hurry up and eat up!"

"Even Elizabeth seems to be hesitant…"

"It's just a taste she wasn't used to as a princess, now hurry up and eat up!"

"..."

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and eat up!"

"...On afterthought, I am not hungry—"

"Just hurry and eat already."

"...Thank you for the meal." And with that, after Meliodas' repetitive insistence and his unchanging wide smile becoming more and more menacing, instead of recommending a dish, it seemed more like he was trying to force her to eat, Trista hesitantly picked up her fork, stabbed into the crust of the pie before bringing a piece to her mouth, and...

* * *

_**"Before receiving the pain, I'd like to have a meal with you."**_

_**Jesus brought out the breads and wine for his Christian believers.**_

_**"This wine was made by my blood.**_

_**This bread was made by my body."**_

_**...These are hard to eat.**_

_**...Indeed, it is.**_

**_"Don't waste food, traitor!"_**

* * *

"...What on earth was that just now?"

"Huh? What you're talking about, Triss?"

"Trista-san, are you alright?"

"...No, nevermind."

_'I have the sensation that I saw something really strange just now.'_ Those were the thoughts that Trista had in her mind currently, however it happened so fast that she could hardly remember what she just saw.

In front of her, both Meliodas and Elizabeth were looking at her curiously, though Meliodas seemed to be staring at her in anticipation and interest while Elizabeth looked genuinely worried. Elizabeth being worried is something you see often so Trista didn't cared much about it… it was rather the attentive look that Meliodas was giving her, as if he was studying the subject of his experiment that made her feel uncomfortable.

"So?"

"...So what?"

"Not, 'so what' me, Triss. The taste, how was it?"

"...I don't know at all." Was it because of the weird thing she just saw? Or heard? She didn't felt herself tasting anything from earlier though. Hesitantly, she took another bite to confirm it, and now she did tasted something.

""...?!"" ...And for some reason, the ones who were the most shocked about it were none other than Meliodas and Elizabeth who were in front of her.

While wondering why their eyes and mouth were open so wide, Trista chewed through her second bite of pie, she raised an eyebrow at it and…

"...Well it doesn't taste good, but it isn't that terrible either." She gave her honest opinion. She wanted to add the fact that it was slightly too salty to her tastes but...

***CLANG!***

The meal cover that Meliodas removed earlier fell from his hands to the ground, ringing with a single metallic sound, covered the words she was about to say.

And when she was about to question it, the look on Meliodas' face that made her feel like he was seeing her as some kind of abnormal living being.

"Such a dull reaction… Impossible…" He muttered as if his whole reason of living had been just denied in front of his eyes as he fell to his knees, like a doll whose strings had been cut off.

"Meliodas-sama?!" Elizabeth quickly ran to him in worry, well who can blame her! It was the first time that anybody saw the usual calm and composed (and maybe too cheerful) Meliodas being so shaken like this!

"Pugo, pugo, what's going on here?!"

Ah, it seems that Hawk just came back from his walk.

"Hawk-chan! Actually…"

"I-I am sincerely sorry for the lateness, I can't believe I overslept!"

"C'mon, calm down～ I'm alwaaaays late too, it's alrigh'～"

"No it isn't! Please at least think to try to be more punctual!"

...Oh, now both Mira and Ban also came down, and at the same time too, surprising.

"Hm～? It smells kind of nice here, what—Wait, WOAH?! What's wrooong, Cap'n?! Am I goin' blind or you're really on your knees～?!"

"I-It's true! What on earth happened Trista-chan?! Did someone attacked him when we were sleeping?!"

"...I have not the single idea but I believe that it's something he did to himself."

As expected everyone was shocked by Meliodas looking so weak and defeated. Trista would be among them if it weren't for how much the current situation is overwhelming her, which was quite rare too, and thankfully it went unnoticed by everyone around her, surely due to her mostly inexpressive face.

"Oi, Caaaap'n, why you ain't answerin'～? Well, nevermind. Don't know why he's like that but can't have any answer if he ain't gonna answer." Even the earlier Ban who was quite excited (instead of worried) about the possibility of finding what caused such a moment of weakness in his usual strong captain, was disappointed over the fact that he couldn't even do such a thing as the blond 'boy', was now starting to turn gray like some kind of exhausted professional boxer who just lost an exhausting match, it looked like he was ready to turn into ash at the slightest shock.

"Mmwoh? What～? You already had the breakfast here Lil' Miss... Though this ain't gonna be enough for everyooone here～" Ban eyed the barely touched pie on Trista's plate with a glint in his eyes as his stomach growled in response. It seems that he only came down because he was hungry, otherwise he would have stayed sleeping upward for the rest of the day.

Trista frowned slightly at him, "This is my share… or at least it was supposed to be."

"C'mon, don't be stingy～ Just gimme one tiny bite～" And with that, being the experienced thief that he is, Ban managed to steal the whole pie in a fluid and unstoppable movement (and certainly not 'one tiny bite' like he declared so), muttering something along the lines of 'I wanna have some ale with it～' and opened his large mouth filled with canines before biting a huge mouthful, eating a quarter of the pie with a large smile on his face, before freezing up altogether like a statue.

"...What's wrong with you this time?" Trista asked, the frown on her face deepening.

"Ban…-sama?" Elizabeth's voice could be faintly heard in the background but no one paid attention to her.

And after one second of silence, and two seconds, then three…

"..." Ban silently removed the pie from his mouth and put it back on the plate, and then slowly turned towards Trista. "...Lil' Miss, the one who made this pie, is it…?"

"Huh? Well it was…"

"...Nope, no need to answer, I already know it by the taste."

_'If so then why did you asked it in first place?'_ Trista wanted to retort so but she didn't even had the time to do so as Ban started to fall forward in a really slow, and really, slow manner as if it was on purpose (which should be impossible due to the laws of gravity but it seemed as if time had deliberately slowed down around him) and we could almost hear a dramatic and tearjerking soundtrack music at the background.

And when he finally fell on the ground, bouncing on it twice, he had some kind of dark reddish liquid coming out from his mouth (was it blood?) and he was also writing with his finger being dipped of that same liquid (a dying message?) the following words: 'CAP-TAIN'...

With that, Ban finally lost consciousness and turned pale and gray like Meliodas did.

"B-Ban-samaaaaa?!" Once again, Elizabeth's cries ring through the shop. Ending this ridiculous murder case on a note of unfortunate tragedy.

**…**

"...Pugo, pugo! By the way Trista…"

"What is it?"

"Did you just ate Meliodas' cooking?"

"I did."

"And was it your first time?"

"I remember it to be so, why?"

"...Even I barfed at the first bite, so why are you alright?"

"...I don't know… Ah, but if you want I can make Mira try the pie and we can see the result?"

"I DEFINITELY REFUSE—!"

* * *

"I see, I see, I see～! So Triss is just taste-deaf, it is～?!"

"I-I wouldn't say that much, but indeed her sense of taste is more dull than the average… Could it be that you didn't knew about it?"

"Nope, didn't knew about it at all! But what a relief, truly! Isn't that great, Elizabeth? Hawk? My cooking is as bad as ever, it's just Triss' taste buds that's weird～!"

"M-Meliodas-sama, I-I don't think it is something that you should be happy about, is it…?"

"Or rather why do you seems to be so proud of it?!"

After some depression, and some explanation by Mira (as expected of someone who know Trista well), who introduced Trista's taste deafness to the others, thus revealing how she managed to survive Meliodas' devastating cooking which can even numb one's tongue, Meliodas finally managed to get back on his feets, as if he was brought back to life by those words and seemed to be back at a cheerful mindstate, much to Elizabeth's relief.

"But it's great to see Meliodas-sama back to his usual self!"

"Yeah! And if anything, this information even motivated me further～! I'll start training right now to cook something that would even make the inexpressive Triss vomit of disgust, just watch!"

"..."

"Pugyaa! You're focusing on the wrong thing! Why are you only trying to make it worse?!"

...It's great that he has gone back to being cheerful, indeed, but if only he could stop saying such disturbing things with such a bright smile on his face…

"So how it is, Ban～? The new power of my cooking after ten long years of training?" Meliodas asked in a very cheerful manner as he looked down, on the ground.

And in contrast of Meliodas' cheerfulness which was overflowing with life, Ban's reaction was lifeless, and literally lifeless.

"..." And of course he received no answer. Because Ban himself was still unmoving, on the ground and with his eyes turned white and his mouth foaming, the skin of his face looked abnormally purple. It was without doubt the perfect figure of a 'corpse'... Ironical for a man who's supposed to be immortal, huh? To think that just a bite of pie was enough to turn kill the undead man's immortality.

"T-Trista-chan… Your traveling companions are sure, err… 'original people', aren't they…?" Mira, who decided to sit closer to Trista and distance herself a bit from those noisy people, whispered to her so.

Trista, who finished to add a fifth spoonful of sugar in her tea before mixing it with her spoon and taking a sip of it…

"...There is no need for you to try to defend them Mira, putting it in a polite manner 'original' may be a fitting word, but all I can see is a bunch of troublemakers."

***Tack***

And with that she put back the tea on the saucer. The others also managed to understand now why she usually add at least three times (minimum) the normal amount of seasoning on whatever she ate.

"...However..."

"'However'...?" Mira repeated Trista's words in a confused manner.

Trista's expression couldn't be seen from Mira's perceptive, but her words, her voice...

"...However, that kind of commotion isn't so bad once a while."

...They were unusually gentle.

"By the way, Mira. Was the attic comfortable enough for you to sleep?"

"Y-Yes, w-well, it wasn't bad." Mira averted her eyes from Trista's, unable to answer her truthfully. She couldn't even admit to her the truth that her body hurted for sleeping on the hard and cold floor even if she was covered by a warm and soft blanket when Trista was rarely and genuinely asking for her well-being.

"Glad that you liked it. I feel more comfortable in those kind of places."

"...I-I see…"

"So now that you had your share of sleep… I'm going to take mine too."

"Eh?" Right after Mira's confused reaction, Trista drank down all her tea and hopped off from her seat near the bar counter before walking away, heading towards the stairs.

"W-Wait, where are you going?!"

"Didn't I already said it earlier? I'm going to sleep, of course."

"C-Could it be that you didn't slept at all from the night?!" Were her sleeping hours still fixed during the day and not the night?

"If I didn't, then why would I try to go sleep now?"

"B-But didn't you said that you were fine about sharing a room with an unknown man? Didn't you slept through it? From what I have heard, he let you have the bed, didn't he?"

"Yes, surprisingly a gentleman despite his delinquent's look."

"D-Delinquent's…?" Mira wanted to retort that Ban's wild and frightening look wasn't just at a 'delinquent level' but she decided to keep her opinion for herself.

"...Ah, could it be that your active time is still fixed on night?"

"I had it slowly switched during the daytime these last few days so it's not about that, I wish I did slept through the night but unfortunately, I couldn't."

"I-Is that so…"

Since both Trista and Ban were fine with it and declared with an absolute confidence (from where did it even came from?) despite having met each other just recently that 'even if they were to share a room, definitely nothing would happen at all', the girls who were originally worried about it actually agreed to let the two of them share the same room for the night.

"But to think that you, who never cared about the difference between genders, would be nervous of sharing a room with a man… It's really unexpected, you really did changed quite a lot compared to before…" And in an actual more normal way, it was without doubt something that could be considered as a 'good change', well when socially speaking of course, but nonetheless a good change for someone as 'original' as Trista, hopefully she can fit more in the normality now.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"...Eh?" It seems that Mira unintentionally voiced her thoughts aloud, and now Trista was staring at her curiously, her eyebrows raised in confusion. Uh-oh… It seemed that they weren't on the same wavelength.

"I don't know what you are misunderstanding currently Mira, but the reason for why I was unable to sleep is not that."

"E-Eh? Then why?"

"...Because women's jealousy is truly terrifying, especially if it's coming from the girlfriend herself."

"...Eh?"

For some reason, the look on Trista's face at that moment was very tired and weary, her eyes were dull and she averted her gaze away from Mira, as if she was a soldier who just returned from an exhausting and life-threatening battle. And with that, Trista left the hall and returned upward, leaving a dumbfounded Mira behind.

* * *

Trista walked towards the bed she took when she was sharing a room with Ban this morning. Ironically, it was the same bed on which she slept on when she first came here, though she was pretty sure that she fell asleep on the floor, when she woke up she found herself to be on the bed (along with the strange feeling that she had been manhandled during her sleep).

She also wanted for Ban to use the bed at the beginning, but in the end he forced her to take it.

_'Truly, an unexpected gentleman in contrast of his criminal-like look…'_ And this is why a book can hardly be judged by its cover.

Giving another yawn, Trista decided to lay herself on the bed before she can faint of sleepiness on the ground again.

"..."

Soft pillows, soft mattress and soft bed sheets, all of them were fitting enough to give a good rest to anyone who would sleep on it, and without doubt Ban too, would eye this bed with a longing expression which is why he choose this room, because he wanted to sleep on a comfy bed and not on the floor, but despite her insistence that she was fine without it, he still left the bed to her and slept on the floor with nothing.

_'...I should at least given him a pillow and the bed sheet. Well if we're still sharing a room tonight then I'll do so.'_ Trista thought so to herself but then soon frowned upon remembering what may happen again, or rather what may happen to her if she were to keep on sharing a room with him.

_'...Maybe I should ask Mira to share the attic with me…?'_ Trista thought as she laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, her skin feeling the comfortable sensation of the bed.

If now she could just close her eyes, turn her mind off and entrust her body into this safe and sinking feeling…

"...!" Trista gasped as if she almost forgot how to breath and she immediately sat up and came down of her bed, her expression unreadable as her eyes were covered by the shadow of her bangs and her lips were closed in a firm line.

The truth is… wherever if she was being stared furiously by that thief's overprotective stalker or not, she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep on the bed, which is why she instead insisted that he should take it. The reason was quite embarrassing and she didn't wanted to let others know about it, and though there is one way to find a solution to it, she would rather bite her tongue off instead of saying it.

_"—I don't care if you're sleeping on the floor or not but at least take a blanket with you."_

"..." A faint past memory surged back in her mind, as if it was scolding her for her laziness, one that she would rather forget right now and remember forever at the same time, it was a strange feeling that she felt sometimes and couldn't get used to it even by now.

She turned around to see the bed sheets and after one minute of thinking, wrapped it around herself before sitting on the ground and then laying on it. She could feel the hard and cold floor against her back, one that cool down her head and made her body stay on alert, and warm cover on her body… That contrast gave a surprising comfortable feeling, one that she may not dislike from now on. But as expected, she still couldn't do it, even by now. How pathetic she must be, causing trouble for everyone just for that…

"...Are they going to be angry…?"

Would they be angry at her for sleeping on the floor? Or dirtying the bed sheets? Or when she would wake up would she find herself on the bed again? Hopefully not… but then, Trista looked up and then saw that the reflection of her image, as blurry as it is, could be seen faintly through the glass of the window.

How strange and pitiful she must have looked… and being taken over by a strong and familiar feeling of guilt…

".._.I am sorry_…" She murmured so, a hand covering her eyes, her voice trembling unnaturally… but that quiet whisper would never reach the one to whom it was destined.

* * *

"...As expected… this time too, huh?"

"..." When Trista blinked her eyes open, she saw Mira hanging upside down, looking down at her, as if she was standing on the ceiling… no, rather, she was the one who was laying down in the wrong direction herself.

For some reason, Mira's eyes seemed to be very sad when she was gazing at her, and she didn't said anymore than that.

It didn't took much for Trista to understand what she was talking about as her own eyes started to narrow as a frown appeared on her face in result.

She was about to say something but in the end, Trista for a rare time, couldn't find anything to say back. She stood up slowly, taking the bed sheet from the ground before folding it and then put it back on the bed, and then turned towards Mira.

"...Did something happened when I wasn't here?" The only reason for why Mira would come to her was surely because she acted as the messager for whoever wanted to inform Trista of something but couldn't do so themselves due to whatever reason they had.

When she asked so, Mira widened her eyes before closing them as if she was resigned to something and smiled in her usual way, her previous expression nowhere to be seen. "Yes, well there was some small incidents but…"

"If Meliodas didn't drag me out of this room then it mustn't have been much important."

For some reason, Mira showed a very complicated expression at this (she saw the Holy Knights who intercepted them being eaten by some kind of Black Hound so it was hard to say if it was fitting the case of 'important' or not for Trista's particular standards).

"Did anything else happened?"

"Ah, they decided where they should head towards now and who they want to find."

"And it is?"

"The destination is apparently a place named 'The Capital of the Dead' and the one they seek to find is one the member of the Seven Deadly Sins named 'King', if I remember well."

"...The Capital of the Dead, huh…?"

Seeing Trista mutters to herself in a pensive manner and reacting to the name, Mira asked. "Is this somewhere you are familiar with?"

"...Well I did some research on it, however I don't think we have much chances to enter in it."

"Why so?"

"...I don't know for the others… but at least it's sure that you and I don't fit the required conditions for it." After she said those words, Trista looked towards the glass window, the sky looked so blue and cloudless, befitting for the start of a peaceful day. But she knew that despite its appearance, it was going to announce soon an upcoming storm.

* * *

**A/N.: Since Meliodas' cooking is destroying others by its awful taste, it should be fine(?) if the other party is someone as taste-deaf like Trista, though it still hit her hard enough at the beginning to give her an hallucination XD**

**I'm wondering if everybody have enough of me always adding a review corner in my fanfic so I am going to skip this one. But I still wish to say a special thanks to _merendinoemiliano_ and _believergirl62_ who had the kindness to review the previous chapter, especially _believergirl62_ who kindly encouraged me when I was facing some insecurities, and also thank you for wishing other's safety during this difficult period ****_merendinoemiliano._**

**Everybody, please be careful and take precautions against the coronavirus, it may start to get better depending on where we are but we shouldn't lower our guard yet (-_-). Please review too!**


	13. Capital of the Dead Arc - III

**A/N.: Hello everyone! If this continue like this, maybe I'll be able to do Weekly updates! ...But let's not hope too much for now. Anyway, here is the chapter!**

**I am sorry, even though I had originally promised a battle-oriented chapter, in the end it was pushed to the next chapters. So here is another humor-oriented chapter XD ...I have the feeling that my fanfic and the themes that I have chosen aren't matching during these few days, but eventually it would, so please wait until that time!**

* * *

**CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - III : _Tala Village, King and Flying Bucket_**

* * *

"Say, Triss… are you sure that you're not a living encyclopedia?"

"I don't remember having offended you to the point of being compared me to a book. What with that all of the sudden?"

"I was actually praising you, you know? Besides what I meant is…" Meliodas ruffled his already messy hair further before he directed a frown towards Trista, who just finished her 'nap' and descended to the hall of the tavern to them after he asked Mira to go wake her up in order to inform her of their plans, but then he receives an answer that he didn't expected, or maybe one that he should have expected, especially if it was coming from her. Which leaded him to drag her upward in order to have a 'private talk' and not having her say anything unnecessary to the others again.

"You know, Triss. I have been in Britannia for pretty long, and maybe far too long, and even though I have heard a few rumors about the Capital of the Dead, I have never found its precise location. So how can you, who has been a shut-in for the last 16 years, know about it?"

"Well it was before I became a shut-in… and besides, I'm not saying that I know its exact location, just some faint recollections of where it may be situated, so it's not much different from the rumors you have heard. Well, I'm saying so but I could never access to it, and who knows if its location changed since the last time I visited?"

Meliodas visibly gaped at Trista's words as he dramatically covered his mouth with his hand, "Triss who's giving us unsure informations?! Et tu Triss?!"

"Why such an over exaggerated reaction? It's not like everything I said is 100% sure right."

"I see, I see, I see! So you're admitting that most of your words are pure lies, aren't they?"

"No they aren't, lying is something that I hate after all. Besides…"

"Besides…?"

"...You probably never found it because you had no reason to search for it." She whispered the last part so low that others couldn't hear it, but Meliodas…

"Huh? Triss, did you said something?"

"...I was just saying that you start to get on my nerves with your questions so please shut up already."

"Ahaha, how harsh～" Meliodas laughed slightly.

However in truth, he had perfectly heard what she just said. Even though he could question her about it like he usually does, he didn't this time. Knowing her, she would just avoid the question again. Indeed, she wasn't lying but she wasn't telling the truth either… And he wasn't sure if it was even a truth he wanted to know, so he decided to ignore it for the time being.

But he hide all those insecurities and suspicions behind his usual cheerful smile, feeling that the atmosphere was going to turn moody if he were to continue on pursuing the same topic, he decided to change it as he purposely crossed his arms and tilted his head on the side. "However Triss, you usually wait for others to ask you and then answer so why did you suddenly offered your help when nobody asked you yet?"

"...Hmph. Isn't that obvious, Meliodas?" Trista leaned back on her seat and straightened her back, her expression serious without the single hint of joke in it (though it was always such a case, so much that one had an hard time to tell if she was truly joking or not).

Even though Meliodas would take this seriously usually, he became slowly used to Trista's antics, which he secretly named 'Tristaïsm' in his mind (and one day he wanted to add it in a dictionary) and his 16 years long of experience about dealing with her now awoken and informed him that her following words shouldn't be taken so seriously.

However since they were currently discussing about a serious matter, there was a possibility that what she may say was actually related to the situation and could offer them useful informations.

Thus, his mind (which helped him all these years) and instinct (which were engraved in his body) were having a heated battle against each other inside him right now, and…!

_'...It's not that bad to just listen to what she has to say, right…?'_

...And the mind won this battle. So ignoring the feeling of wanting to change decisions that was boiling furiously in him, Meliodas asked. "Nope, sorry I don't know at all of what you're talking about."

"How curious… Even though you are deeply related to this."

Eh? Is that so? But no matter how much he thought about it, Meliodas couldn't understand in what way she mean it, since there was so much of possibilities.

"...Nope, still no idea. Go ahead and enlighten me, Triss."

"Very well…" Trista closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Meliodas waited, slight tension build up inside him during that moment, and then Trista finally opened her eyes and answered…

"Isn't it obviously because I don't want you to confiscate my sweets ever again?"

"..." Meliodas had enough of reacting to each of her words, thus instead of doing anything he just decided to keep a silent smile.

Rather, this is what he should have expected from her above anything else, knowing how her personality was and her habit to value the wrong things.

Since that moment, Meliodas decided that when he would be dealing with Trista from now on, he would definitely trust his instinct over his mind. (Without forgetting to confiscate that damn cocoa powder box again as a sign of retribution of course.)

She did improved compared to her previous self in some ways, but unfortunately it wasn't the way he wished for.

* * *

"...Haaaahhh…" Meliodas was now sighing, his face against the table and his body unmoving on the chair. After their earlier discussion, Trista left first, thus leaving Meliodas alone on the table, back in the hall of his shop.

Facing Trista in a single talk seems to be far more exhausting than any battle he had fought up until now, and not to brag about it but he had fought quite a lot.

"—U-Um, Meliodas-sama…? I heard from Trista-san that the two of you finished talking, but is that fine right now?" Elizabeth's concerned voice could be heard from somewhere, it was nearby but not close enough to for him to reach her. He decided to instead concentrate his leftover strength into his hearing and he could hear some uneasy footsteps which never moved from its initial place.

_'It seems that even though she want to come, she's hesitating because I look so tired… Typical of Elizabeth, huh?'_ Meliodas thought wryly but he felt too lazy to call out to her or to look at her so instead he raised a hand, knowing perfectly that she is watching before waving it towards her, hinting her that he allowed her to come closer.

"Y-Yes, I am coming right now!" And together with her relieved answer were the sound of approaching footsteps.

Now he could feel her presence clearly next to him, her smell that he knew so well was now stronger than ever, the sound of her voice were closer to his ear as she whispered his name in an shy manner, "U-Um, Meliodas-sama…? I am here now…"

'Was there something you needed from me?'... was probably what she was going to ask next, but since he didn't answered her at all, she started to get a bit flustered over what to do next. A clumsy yet cute reaction as always.

The usual Meliodas would surely tease her and try to trigger more of those interesting reactions. But unfortunately, Meliodas isn't even in the mood to appreciate what he would usually do, so much he was tired right now.

He absolutely needed some healing.

Thus, while he was still conscious, he decided to use the last amount strength in his body to push him forward and dive into his salvation before he could completely fall apart, which is none other than—

"KYAAAaH…?!"

—Which is none other than stuffing his face under Elizabeth's skirt.

"M-Meliodas-sama, what are you—?!"

Despite hearing Elizabeth's flustered protests, Meliodas didn't cared and instead wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her closer to him as he took one deep breath and another, rubbing his face into her skirt, hearing Elizabeth's embarrassed squeaks which sounded like music to his ears.

Aaah, here is it, his paradise, the Avalon where his hearts would be healed…

"PWAHAHAHA! You sure haviiin' fun, aren't ya, Cap'n～?"

...Here it come, another one who came to interrupt his healing time, as if he didn't had enough with Hawk doing that all the time! But this is now a situation he can't ignore anymore, so he had no choice but to lift his head out of Elizabeth's skirt (with as much reluctance he could) before sending an annoyed glare at the newcomer.

"Hahaha! What with that glaaare, are you angry that I interrupted you guuuys in your tryst～?"

"B-Ban-sama, this is not…!"

"Yup, we were in the middle of a great moment, you sure have nerve to come and interrupt us, Ban."

"Meliodas-sama?!"

"Hohoho, is that true Princess～?"

"It is true, isn't it, Elizabeth?"

"I-I…" Even though she tried to dissolve Ban's misunderstanding(?) over the situation, Elizabeth was immediately cut off by Meliodas who claimed the contrary of what she was going to say.

What on earth was he doing? Was he teasing her again? And why had she such an hard time to find the words to deny it now?

Being in a mix of shock and embarrassment, Elizabeth could only trembles with a large blush on her face, and after fidgeting a bit, she decided to take the escape route in order to avoid any answer.

"I-I, I remember that, err… Trista-san was calling for me earlier so I will go now, I am sorry for bothering you, please take your time!" And with that Elizabeth ran away, her face beet red and almost tripping during the process.

"..."

"..."

Ban and Meliodas looked silently at where she left, then both turned to each other and…

"She ran away, didn't she～?"

"She sure ran away, right～?"

Of course both of them were aware of the truth and grinned wryly at her poor performance, Elizabeth really sucked at lying.

"But to think that Cap'n would do such thiiiings in the broad daylight, huh～?" Ban whistled in amazement as he laughed happily while Meliodas just stared at him with a raised eyebrow and a taunting grin, "What? Are you, of all people, going to tell me that it's weird?"

He could hardly imagine his buddy being such a person and it would be surprising if he were to answer the contrary. But as expected Ban agreed with him. "Nope, on the contraaary I'm relieved～! In the past you never shown any interest into womeeen, to the point that I started to doubt in which way you swingeeeed. Glad to see that even Cap'n is a normal man like everyone～!"

"Don't push your scary desillusions on me, will you?" Meliodas deadpanned with half-lidded eyes, and the smile gone from his face at what Ban was trying to imply before giving a sigh, just how can believe that he was into men? The single thought of it wanted to make him barf.

"Or rather, it's not that I'm not interested, it's just that I was waiting for the right person to come."

"Hoho… And it's that Princess? If so then you're aiming hiiigh, Cap'n!"

"...Well, who knows?"

"Ahaha! Don't play dumb at this point, Cap'n～!" Ban slapped the back of Meliodas' head so hard to the point that he almost fell face-planted on the ground.

Meliodas responded to the same extend by squashing his feet under his own, breaking the bones under it by the same occasion, Ban let out a surprised scream but didn't even checked his own injury or cared about the pain (it didn't even reached the unbearable level) as it started to heal on its own.

Meliodas stood back up and then directed a sly look at Ban. "Well, I can ask you the same question. Putting King and Escanor, whose interests are oblivious, and Gowther and Merlin who hardly cares about such things, I have never seen you being interested in anyone, Ban. Or could it be that you already have a special someone?"

"..." However this time, Ban didn't answer anything, he stayed silent and instead averted his gaze from Meliodas, this isn't a side of the usual noisy and outgoing comrade that Meliodas knew. And after a long silence, Ban ruffled his spiky hair before answering in a monotone tone, "...Yeah, somethin' like thaaat."

"..." Now it was Meliodas' turn to not answer anything as a single thought came to his mind._ '...Crap, I stepped on a landmine.'_

Everyone had something nasty secret that they wanted to hide no matter what, himself included, however the question he just threw back at Ban may be the trigger that lead to something private and delicate to the thief that Meliodas himself didn't knew that he had, and hurting him through this is the least he want to do.

Apologizing here wouldn't have the wished effect and pursuing the matter was even worse. ...So in the end, he ended up doing the same thing as Elizabeth did.

"Ah—AH! I suddenly feel very thirsty～ I'm gonna drink a bit!" Meliodas walked towards the counter and took a bottle of Vanya ale for himself and another one. Then he threw the other one towards Ban who caught it without even looking towards him.

"Care for a drinking contest for old times' sake, Ban?"

"..." Ban finally looked up and directed a blank look towards Meliodas. But then it turned into his usual wide grin as he closed his eyes happily, "I'm never gonna say no to free aaaale, and you know thaaat Cap'n～!"

* * *

**"BUGO—!"**

"We're heeeere!" Meliodas announced, standing at the tip of Hawk Mama's nose with Hawk near him and Diane walking happily next to the giant green pig who was carrying the shop on her back.

However Hawk near him suddenly asked a question, "Now we're here, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, sure."

Now he received Meliodas' answer, Hawk looked back at the place where they stopped to as if he wanted correctly verify what he was seeing before turning back ot Meliodas, "How in the world this lonely village called the 'Capital of the Dead'?"

Indeed, Hawk's doubt couldn't be blamed. After all in front of them was just a deserted small village with nothing but only a few small houses that looked quite old, as if they were on the verge of collapsing. Besides that the only things that surrounded them were nothing but some trees.

"From what I've been told, this is the closest village to the 'Capital of the Dead'."

"Hmmm… And is that Trista who told you this?"

"Well, she did confirmed that it was here."

"But she said she wasn't sure of it too, you believe her?"

For a second, Meliodas hesitated to answer as he scratched his head in thought.

"See? You can't even believe it too! This must surely be a mistake—"

"—Well, it doesn't hurt to at least give it a try, we still have a lot of time to spare." And with that, Meliodas walked away from Hawk and went towards the tavern.

"I'm going to call everyone here! Stay and keep guard, Hawk!"

"...What's up with him?" Hawk wondered so as he looked at Meliodas's retreating back.

And a little later, all the members were now on the ground (as Hawk Mama buried herself in the ground), outside of the shop and surrounding Meliodas who gave them instructions on their next plans, around one meter away from the Tala Village where they were actually.

"Okay, listen up everyone! First, we have to gather information about King and the Capital of the Dead. We're apparently at the closest village to it. And we also have to earn money for food, too. So let's get ready to open the shop!"

"...So it's reaaally true that the Cap'n is wait'n tables?" Ban snickered with a smirk on his face while Diane looked down, squatting on her knees with a smile full of adoration on her face as she squeeled, "Captain is so dreamy when he's working, too～!"

"I'm saying this beforehand, but you're all working too." Meliodas declared, a hand on his waist, before he pointed his finger at Diane first, "You're in charge of attracting customers, big poster girl!"

"Me?!" Diane put her hands on her cheeks in delight as stars were literally shining in her eyes.

Then Meliodas switched to Ban, "And I'm counting on you to make great food, jailbreaking cook!"

"Who, me?" Ban's smile twitched a bit as he looked more surprised in a incredulous manner than anything.

Seeing about Meliodas decided of everything himself without caring for others' opinion, Ban tried to call him out of it, "Hey… Wait a sec."

"Are you sure you didn't meant 'crap food'?" Hawk asked, after all if he were an acquaintance of Meliodas who was renowned for his crappy cooking skills, then Hawk had an hard time to believe that he could be a decent cook.

"No, 'great'! ...Is what I want to say, but his food is actually really delicious!"

"Pugo, pugo… Well if I can eat your scraps, I can probably eat everything in this world."

"Hawk… You don't trust my words at all, huh?"

"Isn't it obvious?! After everything you made me go through—"

"And Triss and her friend can…"

"Don't ignore me! Pugyaaa!" However as expected, Hawk was still ignored.

"Like I said, Triss and her friend can—"

"Stay inside."

"...What?" This time, it was Meliodas who was cutted off, and by none other than…

"...Triss?"

"We are staying inside. Mira is a hopeless klutz so she'll surely get herself lost, starve and die if she were to be left wandering alone. And moreover I am in this attire which isn't made for easier mobility." Trista finished as she tugged on the hem of the long skirt of her dress, a deep frown on her face and sighing.

And about her 'klutz friend who will surely get herself lost, starve and die if she were to be left wandering alone'...

"Trista-chan?! Even I can survive on my own! Is your opinion of me really so bad?! Please tell me it's just a joke, okay? Why aren't you answering?!" Mira was back at being teary-eyed and was shaking Trista's shoulders back and forth in an hysterical manner.

"M-Mira-san? How about you stop for now? Trista-san seems to…" However Elizabeth's worried words were covered by Mira's large whines, thus she didn't heard them at all, and it wasn't even on purpose.

Trista endured it for around one minute before her frown increased and Meliodas could literally see her click her tongue in annoyance before finally having enough and slapped her hand hard against Mira's forehead, pushing the latter away.

"OWW?!" Mira immediately let go of Trista before crouching herself down, trembling and holding her forehead in pain.

Trista, in contrast, just gave a sigh as she straightened the collar of her dress.

And as then Mira immediately stood up as if she jumped before looking at Trista with teary eyes and her hands on her previously pale forehead which was now ornating a red-colored handprint, the result of the earlier palm-strike that Trista performed. "Why on earth did you do that for?!"

"You asked for it.

"I didn't!"

"Your actions were answering in your place. You have luck that I didn't considered it as a provocation."

"I didn't intended anything of that sort!"

"And yet you were manhandling me, quite hysterically too, and you cannot deny this in front of all those witnesses even if you weren't conscious of it." Trista then gestured her hand behind her, and Mira looked at all the 'witnesses' who all nodded to her words, Elizabeth laughed nervously as she averted her gaze but it was more than enough to show that she was agreeing with them even if she wasn't doing it openly.

Faced with such an undeniable proof, Mira had no other choice but to accept her wrongdoings in a slight frustrated manner. "Uuh… I-I cannot deny that there was better ways of doing, b-but did you really had to hit me like that?!"

"When words don't work, only physical touch do."

(Let's overlook the fact that Trista wasn't the one who tried to call Mira out of her frenzy attitude, it was only Elizabeth.)

"Couldn't you have called me out in a more gentle manner?"

"How weird… I thought that I went pretty easy on you…"

"And in which way do you consider that as easy?!" Mira brushed angrily her bangs aside to show the red handprint on her white forehead.

Even Trista was surprised about it.

"I am surprised… To see such a precise mark on a someone's skin… Are you perhaps a white canvas in a person's shape?"

...And as usual, she cared about the wrong thing.

"Of course I'm not! Can't you understand why I'm angry?! This is nowhere 'gentle'!"

"Would you wished for me to give you an uppercut instead?"

"Of course I don't—! Why everything sound so hopeless when I am discussing with you～?!" Mira finally broke down in tears as she started to slam her foot on the ground in a repetitive manner, as if she was trying to vent her frustration on it.

She was lucky that the ground couldn't hit her back for grudge or retribution.

"You shouldn't shout and whine like that, getting irritated is bad for one's health you know, and besides you are just going to exhaust yourself in a meaningless manner." So Trista advised, probably out of genuine concern, but unfortunately it only added more fuel to the already big fire.

"And whose fault do you think it is, whose?!" Mira screamed, her eyes wide open to the point where they could almost pop out, she was on the verge of pulling her hair out due to frustration.

The worst is that Trista genuinely had no idea that the reason of Mira's irritation was none other than herself, thus she just tilted her head on the side in confusion and gave a questioning look towards Mira, silently asking her to give her the answer.

...How tragic.

All the observers thought together, their minds brought together by a strong bond of solidarity, being unified in mind and spirit.

On one side, there was Trista who was totally clueless at the despair she just caused simply by her words and her ununderstandable personality.

And on the other was…

"&éàçeud!hdà&é?!"

...On the other side was Mira who started to throw a tantrum by rolling herself on the floor, not caring about how her clothes were getting dirtied by mud and making sounds that aren't even human anymore. And with one last desperate cry, "Wh-WHY?! Why is it so hard to communicate with her?!"

"Even though we are speaking the same language?"

"I thought that you have changed in a positive manner since the last time we met, but I was wrong, so wrong! That side of yours never changed, why?! Why～?! UWAAAAH!"

...Seriously, it was really tragic.

Meliodas felt himself sympathize wholly for Mira and even put his hands together in prayer towards her. Hopefully this girl will have a better luck in next life…

_'But still Triss is really merciless towards everyone, even her friend, huh…?'_ Meliodas thought that she was acting like this only towards people she disliked. Looks like he was wrong. If she was like this to everybody she knew then she would only make herself enemies and no allies, it was a miracle to him that he didn't lost it yet.

However when he is looking at Mira's pathetic form, he thinks that it is only a matter of time before he looks like this too. He is known for his youthfulness but he feel that if he keep on staying around Trista, he would get gray hair sooner than later. Hopefully it wouldn't be too soon.

"Hahaha, when the missy is arouuund everything is hilariooous～!"

...Though there were some exceptions like Ban who was laughing his heart out at Mira's misery and Trista's indifference, or Elizabeth who was trying to act as the peacemaker between the two and who probably never snapped at anyone in those few last years.

Meliodas gave a sigh before resigning himself, "Fine, fine. Triss and her friend can stay inside but you have to work, cleaning at least is possible, right?"

"...Fine." Her answer was hesitant, and it didn't gave him any good feelings.

"Alright! Let's get to work! Give it everything you've got!" But as expected, it failed terribly as Meliodas didn't even took notice of his attempt and instead clapped his hands in an cheerful manner, his voice incredibly loud as if he was covering any opposition that may be said right here and now.

That's right, if he didn't heard anything then he wouldn't know anything and there would be nothing to do about it, that's all. Ban felt like he could sympathize with Hawk about this matter (the matter of being ignored).

"Um… Please let me help out with the waitressing." Elizabeth proposed to which Meliodas nodded, at least there was an earnest hard worker here (of course himself wasn't even included).

"Oh, that's right. Ban, to get to the food storage room, you have to go to the back of the shop and…" However Ban wasn't even here anymore when he looked, "...He ran away, didn't he?"

"...Tch."

"...Triss, don't you dare to make a face like 'I should have done that too while I had the chance'."

* * *

"Seriously… Meliodas is such a slave-driver…"

"Trista-chan… I don't believe that you have the right to say anything about that." Mira felt that Meliodas lived through a lot of trouble because of this girl and would continue to do so from on too.

"Even after all those years, men expect for women to do their laundries for them… it's better to fix that old-fashioned way of thinking soon."

"Ahaha…"

Both Trista and Mira were now doing the laundry outside, since the well of the village was dry, they had no choice but to wash their laundries using the water of the 'closest' river (a few kilometers away), putting the bed sheets and clothes into a water basin full of bubbles.

"Mira, use the pins."

"Eh? But we are not hanging the laundry yet, is it?"

"Of course not, we aren't even finished with washing them. The sleeves of your kimono are getting wet, roll them up and use the pins to hold them up."

"I-If you are saying that then what about your glove sleeves?"

"I can't even take them off so it can't be helped, even if they get wet they would dry later on."

"Eh? But isn't that uncomfortable?" Keeping on wearing wet damp clothes that were sticking to her skin and waiting for them to dry gives a really unbearable uncomfortable feeling, to the point where one want to get changed immediately, but…

"...I spend the ten last years in this uncomfortability, so what else can I do besides getting used to it?"

"I-I see…?" For some reason Trista had a very menacing and gloomy aura around her, burning like a fire ready to propagate itself and even though her face was shadowed her eyes were kind of… glowing of a red light? It was as if she was some kind of vengeful spirit…

And not only that there was also a dark cloud of gloom and blue lines of depression hovering her head, it was the first time that Mira had seen such a Trista.

Anyway, it made Mira feel goosebumps on her skin as cold sweat were starting to drip from her neck. It seems that she accidentally touched a topic that shouldn't have been brought up and if she were to let this continue, she felt that she would become an accidental victim, so…

"E-Erm… The giantess lady seems sure to be having fun, isn't she～!"

...So she purposely changed the topic of the discussion, to say the truth she wasn't aware if it was truly care. Trista looked up to her with her glowing eyes, Mira flinched in nervosity. Now wherever it was going to work or not…?

"Hmmm… It seems to be true." And now Trista was back to her usual self, her eyes were back to her usual heterochromia and the dark aura around her disappeared.

"Eh?" Mira blinked at the unexpected development, was she truly believing it?

"See?" Trista pointed towards the direction of the Boar Hat, where they could see Diane's tall figure who was singing happily a song to advertise about the tavern.

Meliodas, Elizabeth and Hawk were cleaning the hall of the tavern, Diane was tasked with the advertising and Ban who was supposed to be the cook ran away and skipped the work he was tasked with.

"_Boar Roast～ Boar Roast～! A bar where cute waitresses greet with you great drinks～! We'll give you special service～! Boar Roast～ Boar Roast～!_"

"...Though… she seems to be mistaken on the name of the shop."

"To me, it's sound more like she was trying to advertise a new dish."

Mira smiled wryly at this while Trista just shrugged her shoulders.

"But she sure seems happy, huh?"

"Probably because Meliodas asked her, she is happy to be useful to him."

"Huh…? Is that how it is?"

"Even I can at least tell this much."

"Heh～? So it's how it is～!" Mira smiled happily. Even though she was told that she was rather slow when it come to understanding such matters despite that, like every girl she was fond to talk about romantic affairs. Maybe she would discuss a bit with Diane and Elizabeth about it later on.

"But unfortunately for her, those feelings won't lead to anything." However, Trista's words crushed that hope down.

"...How can you be so sure? Sure it may be unrequited for now, but maybe in the future…!"

"It won't happen, definitely." If Diane were to hear Trista's words, she would surely burst into crying. ...Or maybe this is the reason why Trista is purposely saying them, because right now she is out of Diane's range of hearing.

"Is he… is Meliodas-san not interested in these kind of things? Sure he seems to be more battle-oriented, but…"

"It isn't only about that, even he cares about those kind of things. You only say things like that because you have only been there recently, so you don't understand yet."

"...Do you knew him long enough to say that?"

"...He knows me officially only for the last 16 years... though, I..."

"..."

"..." Trista pushed silently the laundry into the river to wash it, bubbles started to come out to the surface as a reaction, then she pulled it out and squeezed it dry from the extra water droplets before putting it into the dry and empty wooden bucket.

And only then she said the continuation of her previous words, "It's just that he is needlessly faithful… even though it would be far easier for him to just give up and pass on something else rather than persisting until now." For one second, Trista's looked like as if she was sad, almost regretful.

However before Mira could ask anything, in a blink of an eye, this expression even disappeared, Trista then turned her attention to Mira, widened her eyes in shock as she was staring at the latter.

"Wh-What's wrong?!" Mira asked, surprised by the sudden change and fearing for the worst.

Trista then stood up and pointed at Mira's hands, or rather the river stream besides them. "The laundry in your hands… were washed away by the river."

"...Eh?" Mira turned back and she had to hold back a scream.

Indeed, the white bed sheets that were previously in her hands were now washed away on the surface of the water around one meter away from them and was continuing on distancing itself away.

"N-No way!" Just when did she even let it go?!

"...Isn't there a waterfall at the end?"

"Huh?! No way! You're kidding me...?!"

"Well yes, it's a joke. There shouldn't be one from what I have seen on the map, but still it isn't a reason to—Huh?" Trista blinked blankly when she saw that Mira was no longer in front of her but was instead sprinting of all her strength towards the floating laundry that was leaving through the flow of river.

"WAAAAIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT—!" She was screaming at the distance.

Trista observed her retreating figure for a while which seems to disappear to the horizon before scratching the back of her head, "...Guess that she didn't heard the end of my words, huh?"

She then crossed her arms and gave a long hum, deep in thought as if wondering what she should do next before finally shrugging her shoulders, "Well whatever, she will eventually come back… but still is that really fine for her to sprint while wearing a kimono, it doesn't make running easier, besides she could trip and—"

"Kyaaahh…?!"

***BAM!***

"...Ah, even though I just said it, she already tripped. Well whatever, she can at least stand up on her own."

Trista then turned and looked towards the rest of the laundry in the water sink and frowned at them, pilling on each other like some kind of small mountain.

"...That woman… she better hasn't done it on purpose so I would take care of her share of work too, right…?"

...Seriously, this isn't funny, Trista agreed to do her share of work but adding others' to hers was not part of the contract. But if it was really the case, then it wouldn't be funny for her when she would come back.

_'...No matter how I see it, doing business in such a desolate place seems to be quite impossible…'_ But she wasn't going to say it to Meliodas any soon, have him work hard only for it to be nothing, that would be her revenge for forcing her to do these chores.

"Which is why Mira, take all the time you need but make sure that you catch up and take back that laundry you lost."

Then Trista frowned at the sight of Diane's figure moving away. _'Diane is moving...? I can hardly imagine Meliodas let her go wander around alone... But where is she going?'_

* * *

"Seriously, Triss is sure taking time with the laundry! We can't even open the shop yet if she is not coming back, seriously what is she doing? Is she trying to make me wait on purpose?" Meliodas rubbed the back of his head and looked upward in a troubled manner. For some reason he could feel that it was exactly the case.

"Maybe she encountered some trouble on the way…? I hope that both her and Mira-san are alright…" Elizabeth looked towards outside through the window with a worried expression.

Meliodas then put his arms behind his head and hummed in thought for a second. "...Well, I don't know for that Mira, but since Triss is around it should be fine?"

"Is Trista-san strong like Meliodas-sama?" Elizabeth thought about the incident of Bernia Village where Trista was able to hold her own against Twigo who is an Holy Knight apprentice but since then she hardly fought in battle.

"Nope, don't know at all about it. The majority of the memories that I have about her consists of her sitting on a chair and reading a book so I've never seen her fight at all since I first met her, at least until the incident at Bernia Village."

"Eh? B-But if so, how is Meliodas-sama so sure that she would be alright? I mean, if you don't know the extent of her abilities, then…" Elizabeth trailed off as she wasn't sure of what to say anymore. After even her doubted about the extent Meliodas' abilities, even after learning his reputation, until he proved them to her. So how can Meliodas be so sure that if Trista is with Mira then it should be fine?

Meliodas scratched his cheek before answering with a sigh, "Well I don't know about their physical abilities, but Triss' psychological attacks are no jokes, seriously."

"Ah…" Now Elizabeth showed an expression of understanding before it turned into a wry smile.

Now there was no need to say anymore about it. It wasn't out of trust but out of experience that Meliodas was saying it, and especially as the victim.

Indeed if it was Trista, she could surely make her opponent roll on the floor in agony just by her simple words instead of fighting at all… well, only if the opponent was even willing to chat long enough for that of course (not that she ever experienced it herself thankfully), but still…

"Besides, from what I have heard, that Mira traveled a good distance in order to meet Triss. So she should at least have the abilities for that, huh?"

"Y-Yes…" Elizabeth lowered her gaze in a slightly ashamed manner about her lack of trust towards the newcomers of the group. Even though Meliodas probably didn't meant it in such a way, his words made her unintentionally realize her mistakes.

_'Even though everyone is far more useful than I am…'_ She felt guilty about even comparing herself to such extraordinary people, even though they were far more useful in this quest than her… well it couldn't be helped due to the fact that she was too different from them, but still, even though she already decided to keep on following them no matter what, was there truly nothing she could do?

"Come on, don't make such a face! I'm sure that they're gonna be alright!"

"...?!" Right after she blinked, Meliodas' face was right in front of hers, so close that she took a step back in retreat without even realizing it. She was about to call out his name in a flustered manner (which she often does around him she noticed recently), but the bright grin on his face stopped her from doing so.

It was as if he could read her thoughts and was trying to cheer her up. And when she was about to open her mouth and answer him—

"You two! Take some distance from each other! You're too close!"

"Y-Yes, sorry Diane!" Elizabeth broke her gaze away from Meliodas, her face burning as she took a few more steps back.

It seems that Diane was seeing them through the window outside and from the way her eye looked and the way she was frowning, she wasn't pleased at all. Well her infatuation for the Captain of the Sins was well-known and so was her destructive jealousy. Maybe she was kinder to Elizabeth now because the two became friends recently, but it still didn't mean that the princess was out of her rival list for now.

Meliodas looked at Diane with a frown on his face with an emotion that Elizabeth couldn't mean, but soon brushed it off before turning towards the door and walking off, "I'm going to drag Ban here for work, sorry can you house sit with Hawk during that time, Elizabeth?"

"Y-Yes! Please be careful, Meliodas-sama!"

"Yeah, I'll be back soon!"

"Wait, Captain～! I'm coming with you!"

"I would rather have you stay here, Diane."

"No, no! Don't wanna～!"

"Hah… Well, it can't be helped so come along."

"YEAH～!"

Elizabeth smiled at the exchange between the two and then waved at them when they left. She then the mop and resolved herself to clean this place before they come back. She probably couldn't help them in difficult things like battle but she can at least support them by avoiding them to do extra work. This time she would show more faith in them, it won't act as a compensation for her earlier doubt but it was the proof of her actual determination.

* * *

"Hm～ Hmhm～ Hmmm～" Diane hummed happily as she was scooting in a slow manner, it was obvious to anyone who would look at her to know that she was in a really good mood right now. She looked ready to raise to the Heavens at any moment.

"What's wrong, Diane? You sure looks happy, did something good happened to you?" Meliodas near her asked with a smile on his face.

His smile was so adorable to her that Diane couldn't help but giggles happily as she took the end of her right pigtail and used it to cover her smile, "Ehehe～ It's because something really nice is happening to me right now～!"

"Heh, is that so? Well these few days we didn't allowed you much freedom so you must be happy to be finally able to move and stroll around to your heart's content, huh? Sorry for that, go ahead and enjoy as much as you want!"

"Geez… Since isn't what I meant Captain…" Diane pouted as Meliodas completely misread her intention. Sometimes she felt that he was doing it on purpose, but there was just no way, right?

"Well whatever!" Diane was now back at smiling, too happy to stay sulking.

She did felt a bit guilty about forcing the captain to go along her whims and to left Elizabeth back at the bar. The princess has been nothing but kind to her even though Diane was cold towards her at the beginning and she did understood that it was better for Diane to stay with her, as the captain said, if something ever happened.

However despite that, she still yearned some time alone with her captain, no matter how short it was or for what purpose it is. Elizabeth probably realized that and allowed them some private time together, which Diane was grateful to, she made note to herself to not forget to thanks the princess for that later on.

Though this couldn't be considered as the 'date' she always wished for to have, it was better than nothing. However the silence between the two started to make Diane nervous, so she tried to search for a topic to talk about in her mind to make this (one-sided) awkward mood disappear.

It was then that she remembered something that she wanted to ask but that was completely out of her mind until just now.

"By the way, Captain…"

"What is it, Diane?"

"What is your relationship with that Trista girl?"

"..." Meliodas then stopped in his steps before directing her a tired look. "Come on, Diane. Are you really going to ask me that question each time you have seen me with another woman?"

"If I didn't you would cheat on me Captain!"

"Not that you and I are even in a relationship though."

"Then what is your relationship with her?! You two looks like you knew each other for years and you even call her by a nickname!" Diane huffed as she stomped on the ground angrily and puffed her cheeks, ready to throw another destructive tantrum if the answer wasn't one she liked.

Meliodas sighed heavily at this and gave it some thought. This surprised Diane a bit. When it come to his personal relationships, Meliodas' answers were immediate and he never thought twice about it, them each being either 'ok' or 'not ok'. Yet, right now, when being questioned about his relationship with Trista, he was showing an expression of 'I don't know'.

Even though there were some times (or rather the majority of time) where Meliodas and Trista wouldn't get along, you can feel a certain amount of time between the two especially with how familiar they seems towards each other, especially during their bickering. This made Diane feel a bit nervous and even afraid of the answer.

And finally, after more hesitation, Meliodas finally gave out his answer: "...A shepherd and a stray goat…?"

"...What?" Diane blinked twice, this wasn't an answer she had expected but more than anything, one that she couldn't understand.

"No… Honestly speaking, I have not the single idea too…" Even Meliodas seems to be troubled by his own words, struggling to try and explain them before finally giving up altogether. Diane has never seen such a side of her captain before.

"Well at least it's definitely sure that we aren't in that kind of relationship either. Or rather if Triss were even to hear about such a thing, she would throw a book at my face in disgust, and personally I would throw up just at the thought too. I'm calling her Triss just for fun, it feel more easy then 'Trista'... Though the first time I called her like that, she made a face and said 'Am I a pet to you?'... though she does feel like one, doing nothing but eating and sleeping. Well this annoys her and it's also a payback for the mess that she put me through each time."

"I-I see…"

_'So it wasn't a nickname out of affection…'_ Diane gave a sigh of relief but still there was a part of her that still felt envy towards Trista about it.

However soon, Meliodas' expression changed. His eyebrows furrowed, his lips set in a firm line as he was staring straight ahead with a serious expression. She was about to ask what was wrong but soon she felt it too.

A little more forward, out of the forest there were currently in, there was it.

The sensation of rising magic power.

The sound of metal clashing.

The smell of blood.

The feeling of a striking bloodlust.

"This magic power… Ban is fighting out here! We're running, Diane!"

"I got it, Captain!"

Both nodded to each other and sprinted out of the forest, towards the source of where those sensations and sounds were coming from.

* * *

During that time, at a certain riverside…

"...?!"

"I-I finally managed to catch the laundry back…!"

"Thank you for the hard work Mira, I've taken care of the rest of the laundry so be sure to take it back to Boar Hat later on!"

"Uwahh...?! Don't throw the basin to me all of the sudden… wait, where are you going?! And to where are you taking that empty wooden bucket? Trista-chan!"

...Mira has been left on the spot.

* * *

There was no need to say that King, or rather the Fairy King Harlequin, was surprised today.

After the Seven Deadly Sins were declared at criminals that day, 10 years ago, during the Kingdom's anniversary and all of them were sent to different places, even though he asked to be with Diane during Merlin's emergency teleportation, it seemed that his request didn't even reached her ears (he is now a bit embarrassed to have even asked such a thing despite the urgency of the situation back then).

Having no place to go back and no clues about where the other Sins were, he decided to return to the Fairy King's Forest. He knew that he probably wouldn't be welcomed as happily as he used to be by his kin however he was prepared as that much, if he were to explain the proper reasons for why he was absent all this time, his sister would surely get angry at him but then eventually forgive him like she always does.

What he didn't expected however, was to find that his hometown and the place he was supposed to protect as a king, was completely burned beyond repair, his kin being nowhere to be found, the treasure of his forest being stolen and his only family member who was tasked with his previous task of protecting it, killed.

And by none other than the one he fought alongside with as fellow members of the Seven Deadly Sins, the one on whom he always kept an eye on because he thought that he shouldn't be left alone otherwise trouble would occurs, Ban. All this time he was unknowingly fighting alongside of his sister's killer.

He should have realized back then, that his regeneration power was far beyond the abilities of 'healing', that it should be abnormal… However because of the fact that all of the members were abnormals in their own ways, and the Sins they committed must stay secret due to the rules of the Seven Deadly Sins he never noticed. He should have though, after all the only item that can provide immortality that came to his mind is the Fountain of Youth.

After learning this, shock, anger, resentment arrived and turned into a vortex of negative emotions inside him to the point that King was sure that he cried every tear of his body that day, as he was screaming to the heavens. And then, years passed…

He is now more calm than he was before and after learning that his comrades were starting to gather themselves once again, decided to plot his vengeance against Ban. For the sake of punishment and atonement. After all, knowing his captain's relationship with him and about how he wasn't aware of the truth about the immortal thief, there was no way that he wouldn't go to him first.

So for the sake of that revenge, King wouldn't even mind teaming up with the Kingdom that branded him as a traitor. He met with Gilthunder, the son of the previous Great Holy Knight who has now grown from a cheerful child to a cold adult. Though he didn't interacted with him much in the past compared to his captain, he was shocked by the change… but who can blame him? The thirst of revenge change people, he was an example of it too.

In the past, he never thought about taking revenge to anyone but here he is, plotting against a single individual for the last 10 years. Of course it didn't meant that revenge was the only thing on his mind, he did thought back about his comrades, about Diane especially, about everyone's safety… but each time remembering the past would lead him to remember the matter Ban and his failures, and only fuel his desire for vengeance further.

He can no longer go back home, he can no longer see his friends nor his beloved, he can no longer make amends with his sister… so all he can do right now is to take revenge, which he is doing now.

...Or, that was supposed to be the case.

"Hey!"

"Come on, Cap'nnnnn, don't get in my way!"

"What are you doing, skipping out your work?"

When Ban was about to finally counterattack, behind him Meliodas appeared and knocked him on the back of the head with a wooden lug, stopping the man in his tracks.

The captain of the Seven Deadly Sins was unchanged in terms of appearance and personality, just like in his memories, but should it be possible? He always knew that the Captain was strong for a human… or rather he had been doubting that he was even a human, what kind of Kingdom, no matter how desperate they are or how strong he is, would agree to let a child become a Holy Knight?

And then soon following after him, came...

"King! We've been looking for you, King! I'm happy to see you again!"

...Diane.

Just like he expected, she is beautiful as she was in his memories, her Giant's longevity wouldn't allow her to suffer any change of appearance in just a single decade. She smiled at him, and winked at him, and she said those words in a happy voice…

King couldn't think about anything else anymore. So before the indifferent mask that he uses on his face collapses and reveal his hysterical joy and keeping the adrenaline that urged his body to rampage through the sky in happiness, he opted that in order to avoid an unsightly show, he should just quietly left the scene in an indifferent manner.

Yes, that was the best thing to do, or at least it was the best thing he could do in such a situation, among everything he thought up right now.

"—KING, WATCH OUT! INCOMING BUCKET!"

...However not even such a thing was allowed to him.

_'"Incoming bucket"? What does that even means?'_ King thought as all his earlier nervosity was gone and he heard Meliodas shouting behind him. However he seemed to have heard the sound of the wind(?), or something approaching him at high-speed.

And when he turned his head…

***BAM!***

Along with an hard resonating sound, something hard crashed against his head.

"GUHAAAAH—?!" King cried out in a mix of shock and pain as he didn't even had the time to prepare Chastiefol to guard against it.

The blow was strong enough to make his mind go blank, feeling himself losing his strength, he ended up completely forgot how to use his flight ability and he felt his body falling to the gravity. Fairy Kings like him are known to be skillful in magic manipulation but they were not as physically strong or resistant than the other races, when it came to the physique, they were utterly weak against unguarded physical attacks, like the one right now.

As he was falling from the sky to the ground, King had a weak glimpse of the 'foreign object' that just attacked him and widened his eyes in shock before his consciousness fell entirely.

_'N-No way…'_

What was falling together with him was really a wooden bucket.

_'So Captain was literally meaning his words…?'_ Those were the last thoughts of King before he completely lost consciousness.

One of the legendary Seven Deadly Sins, being knocked unconscious by a flying wooden bucket? He felt like he was never going to live this down.

* * *

"—So? Did I managed to hit him?"

"Why don't you see for yourself? Or rather, what the heck are you even doing, Triss?"

The culprit behind the flying wooden bucket case was none other than Trista. It seems that the place where they were battling was close to the riverside where she was washing the laundry together with Mira, thus she ran here of all her strength taking account of how she was panting a bit.

"Haah… Ah, geez! That's why I hate running in long skirts!"

...Or it was just because she was annoyed by the difficulty of motion that her clothing is putting her through. Yup, the latter was more plausible.

"Diane, did you caught him properly?"

"I did, Captain! Here…" Diane crouched down and showed the unconscious King present in her joined palms. There was a large bump on the back of his head, his eyes were swirling and he was obviously unconscious, but he was still alive.

Meliodas nodded to himself and after checking that King didn't had any lethal injuries, he looked at Diane. "Good. Be sure to not drop him, okay? We're going to take him back with us."

"Okay～!" Even though she was happy to be reunited with a good friend (King, who always kept her company for a reason or another) again, she was even happier to receive another request from her beloved Captain.

If King was still conscious, he would be crying to see that one demand from Meliodas made Diane far happier than her reunion with him, but thankfully he isn't aware of anything right now.

"But still, it surprised me Triss, didn't expected you to do such a thing all of the sudden."

"You were going to let him escape, so I took care of him before he could. It's better than wait for another encounter with him, right?"

"Well you're not wrong but… next time at least give a warning before throwing a bucket at someone like that, okay?"

"I will throw a bucket at him."

"...There's no use to say it after you did it, you know?" Meliodas deadpanned at Trista's serious response.

But then she tilted her head on the side, a hand on her chin as she wondered, "...Was that unneeded?"

"Nope, it was called for! Great job, Triss! It's two birds in one stone!"

"Wait, I know that it was an amazing throw and all but you're actually praising her for it, Cap'n?!" Now it was Ban's turn to deadpan as he saw Meliodas giving a thumb-up with a smile to Trista as the latter nodded, pleased with her actions or so it seemed.

_'Even though he was always complaining about her acting on her own, when it benefits him, he's ain't gonna say anything, huh?'_ Ban smiled wryly at the scene, behind him, the two little siblings were huddling against him in slight fear.

Well who can blame them? First there was the fact that the brother stabbed Ban under the misunderstanding that the latter was trying to harm his weak sister, then there was the sudden bloodshed between the battle with Ban and King and finally, there was the pitcher bucket throw that Trista smashed against King's head, the latter fell like a bird that had been shot in the sky. Receiving all of that at once… if this wasn't traumatizing, then what is it?

The day was still not over and yet...

* * *

**A/N.: Unlike in the real story, I'm making King be reunited with Sins officially more earlier, the scene of the bucket is an idea that occured me to the last minute so I don't know how it would be taken. In the end, here is another small review corner, just to thanks the reviewers who reviewed this time! Otherwise I think that maybe it would be better to set those corner only to answer questions in review... what do you think about it? I don't mind giving minor spoilers or receive personal requests or opinions from my readers, wherever I will use them or not dépend though.**

**[REVIEW CORNER]**

_**\- merendinoemiliano's review at chapter 12:**_ "Lovely and funny chapter, hoping you're safe."

_**A.:**_ Thank you as always, I hope that you are safe too! Be careful!

_**\- Maya Yoan's review at chapter 11:**_ "ah, sorry I just appear again. The only reason of why I forgot to add the review is because I binge-reading this from the first chapter (because I have no idea of where the change has been placed, that is)  
Anyway, great chapter as usual. It's ridiculous to see the interraction between Meliodas, Trista and Mira especially the part they make a team to bad-mouthing Mira the crybaby klutz LOL  
But now I wonder who is this professor. From Mira's train of thought, we can say he's dead already, right? Huh... wonder if they will meet this professor in the Capital of the Dead?."

_**A.:**_ Hello! It's been a while! Don't worry about it, I know that my modifications made it confusing so sorry for it. Meliodas and Triss teaming up to badmouth someone else is actually quite current, they just need to find a good target on which they have similar opinions! XD And about the professor... here is your answer; sorry but he won't be at the Capital of the Dead, and the reason... will be revealed in the future chapters! Anyway, stay safe too and good luck on your many Nanatsu fanfics (I have only one for now so I have it easier compared to you).


	14. Capital of the Dead Arc - IV

**A/N.: Hello everyone, here is today's chapter!**

**Recently I am really into an anime called Shironeko Project: Zero Chronicle to the point that I have watched all the games about it, but unfortunately it isn't much popular over here, even though it made a big hit in Japan and have made many crossover events with famous anime/mangas... ****Well still it gave me many ideas that I want to put in use in my story! The main pair reminds me so much of the tragic love story between Meliodas and Elizabeth!**

**I am also sorry for the late chapter, I wanted to finish it earlier but it took more time than expected, and even though I promised some Ban-King clash it ended up being pretty sloppy...**

* * *

"...By the way, Triss. I completely forgot to ask you this until right now, but where's Mira?"

"...Ah."

"What do you mean by 'Ah'?"

"...I'm going to pick her up."

"...So you completely forgot about her, huh? I can't believe it... Though I also forgot about her up until now so I can't blame you about it."

* * *

**CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - IV : _Access and Unaccessible_**

* * *

"I can't believe that you completely forgot about me!"

"Why are you and Meliodas saying the same thing?"

"Is there any other way to react when you are doing something like that?!"

As expected when she rushed back to the riverside, Trista found Mira being covered with the laundry she threw at her, the basin still in her hands and stuck exactly at the same place, as if she was frozen in time.

The reason was because of the shock (of Trista throwing the laundry against her all of the sudden), the hesitation (of returning to the Boar Hat on her own and getting herself lost in the process or stay here to wait for Trista as the latter asked) and also the cold (being covered by damp laundry and having the cold wind blowing against her).

So when Trista came back to her, she snapped out of her daze and quickly asked for explanation for the reason of why she suddenly ran away, but no matter how honest Trista was, her answer was definitely not enough to calm Mira's anger as the latter had been literally treated as a cloth hanger.

"Seriously! 'I had to throw the bucket at the head of a fairy', what kind of answer is that even supposed to be?! Do you want me to believe that?! And even if that's true, how is that an acceptable reason?"

"Desperate situations calls for desperate measures, sorry."

"And how is that a 'desperate measure'? And why are you giving such a short apology?!"

This was how it was for the rest of the way back to the Boar Hat. Of course, Trista's short and imprecise answers weren't enough to make Mira understand the situation.

Trista did felt some slight guilt over leaving Mira on the spot without even giving a single explication, especially since she wasn't even sure if the fairy she attacked was truly one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Which is why she is currently carrying both basin filled with the laundry piled on it while Mira was following her, puffing in anger and accepting all the complains she is giving her since she came back.

(To say the truth, she was quite tempted to throw the basin at her head just like she did to that skinny flying fairy with the bucket but she held herself back.)

And the scolding kept on continuing even when they reached the Boar Hat.

"And this is why you are always so—"

"Okay, quiet. We arrived at our destination now."

"—Listen to what I am saying!"

Of course Trista just ignored Mira and saw Diane before she raised an eyebrow at the giantess, in a strange position, crouching on the ground like a cat would and trying to take a peek through the window of the store with a lot of difficulty, which was positioned too low for her.

Though both Trista and Mira were shocked speechless by that sight, the one who recovered first and managed to ask out the common question in their mind was the former between the two. "...What are you doing?"

It was then that Diane noticed Trista and Mira's presence and put herself back in a sitting position. It seemed that she was too concentrated to even notice them, doing… whatever she was trying to do earlier.

"Ah, Trista, Mira! Welcome back the two of you! You sure took your time! Everyone is waiting for you two inside!"

"Sorry about that, a certain someone didn't wanted to move until she got a proper explanation."

"And I'm telling you over and again that it's your fault!" Mira retorted back to Trista's previous words but then realized with a gasp that she just spoke without even thinking about it, without even realizing it. ...The most frightening is that she started to get used to this, and she didn't knew if it was something she should be rejoicing herself over or not.

Of course, neither of the two other girls took notice of her inner turmoil as they just dismissed her response in a half-hearted manner and then continuing their talk.

"But still answer the previous question, what on earth were you doing earlier?"

_'How can she ask others to do this while she never does it herself?'_ Mira thought silently in a shocked manner. She found faults in others but didn't even noticed the similar faults lying in herself. Was she doing it on purpose?

"Ah, that… Well it's lunchtime and it smelled so good so I wanted to take a peek, but as expected I can't enter because of my size…" Diane rubbed her head sheepishly, "Well, you'll understand once you enter."

Both Trista and Mira tilted their heads in confusion before looking at each other and then heading towards the front door of the Boar Hat.

Mira turned the doorknob and pulled the door open for Trista, as the latter had her hands full with the laundry-filled basin (the wooden bucket was taken by Meliodas and the others back to the Boar Hat).

And when the door was opened…

""...!""

...An appetizing smell bursted out, filling their nostrils and tickling them with an odor mixed with a great variety of spices. Sweet, salty, spicy… just the simple fragrance was enough to stimulate your mind and make one imagine the taste without even tasting it, making them salivate by the same occasion.

"Oh, so you're back, Triss! We started lunch without you guys!" Meliodas' voice rang from the interior of the shop.

"...I can see that." Trista wanted to grumble at the beginning but instead mumbled out in slight amazement, her eyes wide with surprise at the sight in front of her. Even for someone as taste-deaf as her, she could clearly guess from the scent alone that a sumptuous feast had been laid in front of them.

She could instinctively feel that it was completely different from Meliodas' knockout cooking without even tasting it. ...It was such a shame that she probably wouldn't be able to taste it without heavy seasonings though, due to her dull senses of taste, but despite knowing that, she still wanted a taste of it… this was how amazing the food in front of her looked to the point of making her think so.

(Mira near her was already drooling, her eyes shining like stars.)

And seriously, there were all kind of things, wherever it was fried food, tender-looking meats or fresh-looking vegetables, enough to make a kid who hate their veggies eat them in silence.

See? To prove this point, there are two children here who were even chugging down their salads instead of ignoring them and attacking the meat and pies.

_'...Wait, children?'_

"...Wait, children?" Trista ended up saying out exactly what she was thinking of right now.

Indeed in front of her, there were two children who didn't seemed to have even reached adolescence. Both seemed to be close in age and had similar hair and eye color, and due to their similar faces, Trista guessed that those two must surely be blood-related family members (she couldn't confirm that they were siblings simply by glancing at them). The two were also dressed in modest clothes so she concluded that they were villagers.

"Those two are Luigi and Ellen, they are children from the village. It seems that there are only the two of them left." Meliodas gave a short explanation and introduction about them to Trista, however this triggered a completely different reaction from her.

_'Those two only? From that deserted village?'_ Trista frowned towards the two children in question.

The two who seems to have noticed her gaze on them, stopped in their meals and turned to look back at her before freezing all together.

"Ah… The bucket-throwing lady from earlier." The boy muttered something along those lines, and Mira was whispering something like 'No way, so you really threw a bucket?' but Trista paid no mind to this, her attention fully focused on the siblings' every movements as her eyes narrowed by the same instant.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence followed after this, Trista's eyes never left the siblings but she didn't said anything either, she was just keeping on staring hole at them as if she was a scientist studying the sample she was about to dissect on the dissection table, or when a snake was staring down at a frog before devouring it. The kind of gaze… or was it a glare due to her frown(?) that was trying to pierce into their existence and unravel all the hidden truths about them…?

The siblings first thought of it as a staring contest, but soon grew unnerved by her intense gaze and started to sweat nervously under it, they tried many things like averting her gaze and focusing themselves on eating again.

"..."

"..."

"..."

However the hard, burning and piercing gaze focused on them never vanished, on the contrary, it was as if it was intensifying itself by each second and the air became more and more unbearing and suffocating.

The siblings couldn't even take another bite of their foods without trembling, the forks in their hands were shaking and even when they finally managed to bring it in their mouth, they couldn't taste anything anymore, as if their tongues were numb with fear.

It was obvious to anyone that they felt uncomfortable, but Trista didn't even seemed to notice that, or was simply because she didn't cared about it? The only one who knew the truth was none other than the person herself but there was no way to confirm it as she wasn't giving any answer on the reasons of her actions and was just continuing them.

If a glare could actually kill people when they are crossing the gaze, then it would definitely be that kind of glare.

Not being able to endure this heavy and hellish silence anymore, the little girl (Ellen) finally gulped down her nervosity and took her courage before taking the plate filled with the sauce-covered steak (juicy, soft, yum!) that she was eating just now and turned to face Trista.

"E-Ellen…?!" Her older brother, Luigi, almost choked on the sausage in his mouth as he shrieked out her name in a astonished manner, feeling that she was about to play with fire right now and wanted to call her back and stop her from doing whatever she was about to.

However Ellen just turned back to her brother with eyes full of determination before taking a deep breath and looking at Trista as she opened her mouth to speak, "E-Excuse me…!" Despite her earlier bravado, her voice was trembling with fear, facing those cold, calculating eyes were really scary for a child like her but even so she must try to find a way to change the subject.

She remembered that this lady was there when she throw the bucket at the kid in the sky but then left on her own, maybe she wasn't expecting them here, invading her home(?), but if it's so then Ellen had to dissolve the misunderstanding.

"W-We are terribly sorry to invade your home like this, but we were invited by those people to have a meal! We will try our best to not be a bother to you and everyone else!"

"..." No response, but even so it was still too early to give up so Ellen looked down a bit, trying to reorganize her thoughts and voice them out better, hoping to come across an understanding this time.

"W-We sincerely apologize for starting to eat without waiting for your return, w-we weren't informed of it and… if, if it's alright with you would you like some? I-It's really delicious!"

"..."

"U-Um…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"H-Hic… I'm Onii-chan… I-I think I can't go on anymore…!"

"Don't worry, Ellen! You did great! To say the truth, I was about to wet my pants here but you did great! It's not your fault!" Having none of her attempts working, Ellen turned to her brother with teary eyes while her brother hugged her as he shouted so loudly, it was no long after Ellen returned the hug, the plates of food on the table was left forgotten.

However even by now, Trista didn't stopped to stare at them, as if she wasn't seeing the situation in front of her at all, until…

***Bong!***

"...?!"

...Until a sensation of pain was struck on the right side of her head… was it retribution for throwing that wooden bucket at that fairy?

Trista, holding a hand at the right side of her head, turned to look at the culprit behind such a blow. Unexpectedly (to say the truth she actually expected it from him), it was none other than Meliodas holding a ladle in his hand and giving her a disapproving look.

_'...This is the "I'm gonna scold you" look, isn't it?'_ Trista made a 'Uh-Oh...' face and gave a sigh and cringes internally, waiting for it to come with a half-hearted resignation.

"Triss, what was that for, seriously? Did you never saw any children in your life?"

"Even if I was born as a plant, such a fact would be impossible." After all children were literally overflowing in the world, no matter what their races are.

"Then why did you glared at them like you wanted to set them on fire just with your eyes? Were you planning to lock them as your targets and then shoot a beam at them from your eyes? ...Well it should be physically impossible but knowing you and your quirks…"

The last sentence was purposely ignored. However due to his previous words, Trista's awareness was finally facing the current situation, which consisted of two trembling siblings staring back at her with fearful looks on their faces, on the verge of crying, trembling like two abandoned puppies huddling together in the rain during a thunderstorm.

"...Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me."

***Bong!***

Here is another ladle punch, and right at the previous spot was!

"Seriously, you weren't even aware of it yourself? Do something about your lack of focus!"

"...I see, sorry."

***Bong!***

"Try to apologize more sincerely!"

"...Sorry…"

"...Do something about that stone-like face of yours."

"...Soooooorrrrrryyyyyy…?"

"Why does it sound more like a question now? And like I said before, it doesn't need to be that long either!"

***Bong!***

"...Meliodas, you really like to tap this ladle on my head, don't you?"

"I can't deny that I was just looking for an excuse to keep on doing this."

"Meliodas-sama!" Elizabeth cried out in a disapproving voice as Meliodas returned to his usual mischievou smile and laughed in his signature 'Nishishi'. He then turned to the pair of siblings who stopped trembling now and instead looked at the scene in confusion.

He then put the ladle over his shoulder and grinned at them, "See? Sorry about that, Triss may growl a lot but she doesn't bite, though she does throw buckets around…"

"—I don't bite but I don't growl either—"

"And she is quite a sucker when it comes to common sense, you must have been hella hungry for staring at them so intensely! Well, not that I can't understand how you feel especially because Ban is the one who cooked this up, but still it's not a reason to glare at them as if you were gonna jump and steal their meals!"

"...I didn't had such intentions either…"

"Well anyway, despite how she acts she isn't a bad fellow, so it would be great if you could forgive her for what happened just now! She's inoffensive, totally!" Meliodas finished with a smile as he smacked Trista's shoulder with his free hand, ignoring all the comments she was throwing between his sentences. Said girl squatted his hand away from her shoulder.

Both siblings looked at each other awkwardly, it was hard to see her as 'inoffensive' after what they went through but if those kind people who welcomed them said so, then it should be fine…? (maybe)

"...Are you having lunch right now?" After a slight silence, Trista asked so.

"Nope, those dishes are just for them, those two poor things have hardly eaten anything so in exchange of informations about the Capital of the Dead, we're letting them eating their fills."

"...If so then why is Piglet festing together with them?"

"Eh?" Meliodas turned around upon hearing Trista's words and then his eyes widened before his surprised expression turned into an annoyed frown. Indeed, as she had said, it seems that since he was no longer her to hold him back, Hawk managed to make his head reach the table and is now festing onto Ban's dishes with stars in his eyes and a big smile on his face as he kept on drooling and was dirtying the table with his sticky saliva.

"Hm… It's not bad but as expected, scraps are still the best!" After such a small comment which didn't matched with the blissful expression on his face at all, Hawk's gaze happened to pass across Meliodas', and…

"...!" It was then that the look on his face turned humoristically aghast as if he was frozen in time, losing all his colors by the process.

Meliodas' eyes were covered by his fringe but then he finally looked up and closed his eyes before giving an angelic smile as he called out the pig's name in a singing voice like Ban usually does, "Haaawwwwk～?"

If 10 town people were asked how they would feel about such a smile, then the 10 would without doubt answer that it was a 'cute smile befitting for the boy that he is' (even Elizabeth is blushing towards it at the background).

However the only thing that Hawk felt towards it was pure terror, his body wouldn't stop sweating or trembling!

And it was then that Meliodas set a foot forward, Hawk set one backward… this exchange continued until Hawk finally hit the wall behind his behind and he realized that there was no way for him to escape.

Meliodas smiling ever so sweetly in front of him to the point that it was disgusting, cutting all escape routes.

And from the Boar Hat, the scream of a single pig could be heard. Diane who still tried to peek through the window was surprised by the sudden shout and fell on her butt.

* * *

"AAAAHHHH—!" King screamed suddenly as he opened his eyes wide before quickly getting himself up in a sitting position, he was sweating a lot and breathing heavily, remembering the scary dream that he just saw yet it was making no sense to him.

After taking a few other deep breaths, King stared at his trembling sweaty palms before facepalming himself with them as he muttered, "I-I dreamt that I was a pig that was getting butchered…!"

Of course this mumble wasn't meant to be heard by anybody, it was just King who voiced his thoughts aloud, and he wouldn't expect for anyone to answer him, but—

"Is that so? If I were to make a comparison then you would be more like a duck that had been shot in the sky. But don't worry, even Meliodas wouldn't go as far as fully butchering the Piglet."

—It seems that he didn't focused enough on his surroundings to notice that there was someone else other than him here.

King blinked twice at that, and then after cleaning his ears with his fingers…

"...You are certainly not having an auditory hallucination, so stop try to avoid the reality and just turn your head to look at your right and face me already."

...As if it had read his thoughts, that voice spoke again.

Though King felt for some reasons that he shouldn't do so, yet he still obeyed and turned around, his eyes then widened open, in front of him was a girl who looked like a living doll but it wasn't such a trivial thing that shocked him, for some reason he couldn't help but feel strongly that this girl was the reason for his headache (to the real sense literally).

Because of that strange feeling of danger, King backpedaled on the thing that he was sitting on, which was too soft to be the ground, and then—

"WaahHHH…?!" He yelped as he no longer felt anything under him and his body start to fall downward, he grabbed and dragged whatever was nearby to hold him up, but it was too light and not tough enough, thus couldn't support his weight, so it ended up falling together with him. A sharp pain was felt on his back and he groaned before slowly getting himself up.

"Seriously… Am I only surrounded by people who are noisy even if they just woke up?" The girl looked at him before sighing and put a hand on her forehead as if she wanted to calm down an upcoming headache.

_'Why on earth is she even sighing for? I'm the one who want to sigh here!'_ However that silent protest that was on the tip of his tongue didn't left King's mouth, he didn't understood what was going on at all and the presence of that girl didn't helped him at all.

The girl then walked towards him before kneeling to his eye level as if she was going to talk to a child and spoke in a tired voice.

"You know what? Actually, I didn't wanted to be here. And probably neither do you. There are many things that both of us can do during such a time and yet we are here, and you know why? All because Meliodas said that I must take responsibility for knocking you out with that bucket, yes it was me all along and I don't regret it the slightest. Even though it isn't such a big deal, and yet. You are not bleeding or anything so it should be fine, besides if such a weak blow was enough to seriously wound you then the title as one of the Seven Deadly Sins is wasted on you. But well, it's a great thing that you woke up quickly. Now I can finally go to continue my business, so with that I bid you a good day, and don't forget to place back the blanket that you dragged to the floor on the bed."

So she said everything in one breath without stopping for a single second until she was finished and didn't even let him give enough pause for him to think straightly or the possibility of voicing any response to her words as most of his mind was concentrated on how to process the informations that she gave him all at once.

Now that he looked carefully around him, he noticed that he was in a room he didn't recognized, the ground he believed to be on earlier was actually a bed and the thing that he caught in his hand was a blanket.

And while he was processing through everything with a dazed look on his face, the doll girl probably thought that he gave his agreement so she nodded to herself in a satisfied manner before standing up and moving towards the window.

_'Huh? What is she doing?'_ King thought drowsily, after all if one wanted to leave then one should leave through the door, right? Did she wanted to open the windows in order to let the air in?

He watched her open up the window but when she put one leg in the frame, thunder struck his mind as he realized her intentions in this instant and adrenaline kicked in his earlier sore and tired body. Without any doubt she has the intention of jumping through the window.

"Hey, waitwaitwaitwaitwaaaaaiiiiit!" He desperately charged across the room to stop her, from what he had seen when he watched through the window, the clouds could be seen closer so the room where he currently is in was surely a few distance above the ground. He was pretty sure that the girl in front of him wasn't a being who could fly.

**…!**

But then King, in his haste, has completely forgot that he was dragging the blanket together with him, thus didn't noticed about how his feets ended up getting themselves caught in it, he only noticed such a fact when his body was already in mid-falling, and his hand extending itself by reflex to grab the closest thing around.

"GWAAAH?!"

"What again?" The girl finally stopped in her tracks and turned to him with a tired voice, probably wondering why he was making such noises again. But then her eyes widened as she felt something pulling her ankle backward and thus making her fall forward as if she slipped on something.

"Kyaa—?!" It was a cute, high-pitched and youthful voice which was completely different from the mature voice that she usually uses to speak, a voice that fits her childlike appearance.

However it was soon followed by…

***BONG—!***

An hard reasoning sound from the harsh contact between the glass of the window and the girl's head.

...Yep, when her feet got pulled by King in his fall, she slipped she ended up smashing her forehead against the window.

A few minutes of silence after King recovered from his fall and widened his eyes at the scene he accidentally caused. He took the same occasion to let go of the girl, during that moment, the sound of the girl's face sliding down against the window could be heard. It was after hearing that sound that King realized in an alarming manner the delicate situation he was currently in right now.

Both King and the girl stood up at the same time, as if their movements were synchronized together. King was unsure of what to do, he felt that the single wrong movement would unleash a terrifying bloodthirsty wild beast on him but doing nothing would also lead to a similar ending.

"U-Um…"

"..."

"...!" Right after he said the first word out of his mouth, the girl spinned on herself and turned to face him, her long hair dancing in the air in a ring-like shape before falling against her back again, her eyes were hidden by her fringe thus making him unable to see her expression, yet the pressure there was a certain pressure he could feel from it which caused him to sweat a bit in nervosity.

"...Is this the revenge for the incident of the bucket?" She asked so, her voice sounded quite menacing.

"E-Eh?" Actually this never crossed his mind, he just thought that she was attempting something dangerous and tried to stop her but before he knew it, he tripped and dragged her along in his fall, which ended up in the small accident of earlier. However as he was struggling to try and explain it to her…

***Clap, clap, clap!***

"—Okay, okay, okay! Stop there! Triss, don't go killing our long awaited comrade! It took us quite a lot of efforts to find him, you know?" Suddenly a nostalgic voice that King could recognize was heard, it didn't changed at all compared to the one in his memories and he even got to heard it just a while ago.

He turned around to see Meliodas, leaning his back against the door with his arms crossed, and was grinning at him, "Yo, it's been a while, King!" So he said as he put his index and middle finger to his forehead.

"C-Captain?!"

"Yup, your captain! The one and only! So how are you doing since Triss knocked you out with that bucket?"

"W-Well, confused… or rather was I really knocked out by that bucket?! So it was real?!"

"If it weren't then you wouldn't be here right now, isn't it? Then allow me to do the introductions… King, Triss," Meliodas gestured to King with his finger pointed at him and then to Trista before doing the inverse, "Triss, King. Here, over!" He finished as he clapped his hands together.

"Wait, wait, wait Captain! Isn't this too half-assed?!" King retorted in shock as Meliodas just shrugged, "Well I hate overly formal stuff."

"This is nowhere 'overly formal' at all! On the contrary, it isn't anywhere near enough! All I know is her name, not even the reason of why she knocked me out with that bucket!"

"To keep you from running away of course! It's something that I would have never thought about, as expected of Triss!"

"Don't praise her about it! And where am I?!"

"In my tavern!"

"Captain's tavern?!"

"Yup!"

"You started one?!"

"The Boar Hat, one and only tavern who would move towards the customers instead of waiting for them! We are pretty popular, you know? It's a mystery that you have yet heard of us."

"Heh…" King hummed in an impressed manner before quickly shaking his heads as he realized that something was wrong, "Or rather no! This isn't what I meant, so you are saying that this is at your place's Captain?!"

"Come on, King. Listen will you? This is my tavern, so obviously it would be at my place!" 'Is your head still spinning?' Meliodas asked so as he poked at the side of King's head, making the latter jump literally in the air at the small pression put on his most recent bruise.

"Ow, owwoWWW! It hurts, don't poke at it!"

"Geez, you're such a crybaby…" Meliodas gave a big sigh on purpose before shaking his head (on purpose too), "And this is why Diane's would never show interest in you…"

"D-Diane?! N-No way, Captain, is that really true?!"

"Well, if you were to man up then maybe…"

"T-Then tell me, what on earth should I do…?!"

"Well first…"

"—If the two of you are going to continue this charade then can I leave right now?" Trista's exasperated voice was heard between the two men's heated talk, interrupting them in their tracks by the same occasion. There was no doubt that Meliodas was just messing around with King and though it may have been amusing to see the continuation, she has other better things to do.

"Oops, sorry about it Triss. Go ahead, go ahead!" Meliodas moved from his position, leaving Trista enough space to walk away. Trista was about to leave the room but then something caught her gaze and she frowned towards Meliodas. "...What?"

"...Nothing～"

"There is no 'nothing' on that face of yours, if you want to be more convincing then wipe off that disgusting grin."

However her words just made Meliodas grinned further as he started to snicker his usual 'nishishi' before sending a playful grin to Trista, "But who could have thought that even Triss have her cute moments, huh～?"

"...What are you talking about? Or rather, no. Don't say anything, you are really creeping me up right now."

"...'Kyaa'... was it?"

"...!"

"That was sure unexpected! But man, my timing was sure right, huh? One second later and I would have completely missed that moment!"

"..."

"It's such a shame that I was the only one who witnessed it though… But I can't wait to tell the others about it—OOOOFF!" Before he knew it, the blanket where King tripped on was thrown against Meliodas' face, making him fall backward and letting him struggling to take it off, with the appearance of a blanket ghost like those in the stories for children.

"C-Captain…!" King was about to go and help his captain to take off this blanket away from him but he suddenly felt goosebumps on his skin and cold sweat on his neck, stopping straight in his actions and he turned fearfully towards the source of it, feeling the presence from behind his back.

Two glowing heterochromia eyes and long hair floating ominously in the air like some kind of ghost, King shuddered in front of that supposedly impossible figure and…

"Don't you dare to say anything."

With that the girl, or 'Triss' as his captain said, left the room (through the door and not the window this time) without saying any more than that. Wherever she was warning him to not let anything slip from his mouth about what happened or if she was just ordering him to not say anything as a comment was unknown to him, but there was one thing clear to King's mind at this moment. The 'Kyaa' incident must never be brought up again.

* * *

"—_Say, Mira_…"

"..._Yes, what is it?_"

"_About those two children… aren't they, how should I say, err_…"

"_Don't worry, there is no need to explain further, I understand perfectly_."

"..._So, are they_…"

"_Indeed, they are similar to us, I can feel it_."

"..._I see_…"

"—Huh? Trista-san? Mira-san?"

""...!"" Both of them who were discussing alone in a corner turned around to see Elizabeth who was standing there, looking up at them to the 1st floor where they were from the stairs where she was currently.

Even though among them, Trista, has especially sharp senses when it come to notice people before they even come (Elizabeth didn't knew how but for some reason before she even knock at her door, Trista knows that it is her), it seemed that they were too immersed in their talk to notice her.

It seems that the children ate their fills, so Ban is currently cooking the lunch for the rest of them too but nobody was yet coming down. In the end, he asked Elizabeth to go and fetch them and when Elizabeth climbed up the stairs, the first people she happened to see were Trista and Mira.

"U-Um… Did I perhaps interrupted your talk?" Elizabeth spoke in a slightly apologetic manner.

Though she didn't heard much of what they were talking about, she felt like that it was something she shouldn't overhear and thought about coming down in order to give them their private time, however she ended up calling out to them before she knew it.

"I am sorry, I will leave right now so please feel free to continue—"

"—No, it's alright. There is hardly anything left to say." Trista was the one who stopped her, "Rather, is there something you need, Elizabeth?"

"Ah, yes. Ban-sama was calling for everyone, saying that it was time for lunch."

"I see, did Piglet tried to eat in secret again?"

"W-Well, Hawk-chan was really scared by Meliodas-sama earlier so I doubt that he would attempt anything like that any soon."

"If he doesn't learn from the harsh way he would never understand after all."

"Ahaha…" Mira laughed wryly after hearing Elizabeth and Trista's exchange about the little pig. It seems that he had learned his lesson right now but all of them were aware that it wouldn't take long before he forget it and end up repeating the same error again, after all his love for scraps was far superior than his fear of Meliodas.

"Then Elizabeth, can you go tell this to Meliodas and the others? We are going down first."

"Yes, of course. Please excuse me then." Elizabeth bowed to Trista and Mira before climbing towards the 2nd floor, leaving the two girls alone once again, and when they confirmed this time that no one was listening to them...

"...So I guess that it's better for you to stay with those children, huh?"

"Yes."

"If anything happen, bring them back to the Boar Hat and stay put. Despite all the damages that has been happening around us, this place is surprisingly the safest after all."

"If you say so…"

"And also one last thing."

"...?"

"...Avoid any unnecessary interactions, no matter who it is or in what kind of situation you find yourself in. Your kind is weak in the current environment and you put yourself enough in danger just by walking out of your territory, don't do anything showy enough to make you any further noticeable."

"...Yes, sorry about this. I'll try to be careful."

"Be sure to keep your word."

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

Trista's eyebrow twitched as she sighed deeply. There was the two children from earlier, hiding behind the bar counter, staring at her intently. However when she turned her head and looked at them, they immediately hide away with a yelp.

Trista then turned to Mira who was sitting near her and said in a single sentence, "—Which is why, do something about it."

"Can you stop entrusting the matter to me when you just find it too troublesome to deal with it yourself?!"

"This is called 'trust'."

"...Even using such moving words won't convince me you know? Do I look as such a naïve person to you?"

"Yes."

"I don't care if it's a lie but just say 'NO'!"

"I am not one to lie after all, why should I lie for the sake of preserving your self-esteem?"

"Ah, I can't anymore! You don't have any delicacy don't you?!"

Trista blinked twice at this before responding, "Hm… If it's sweets that you want, I won't share them with you."

"...It's not about those 'delicacies' that I was talking about… or are you actually doing on purpose?" Mira sighed as she laid her head against the table in exasperation.

"...?" Trista just tilted her head curiously on the side. It just made Mira feel even worse.

"Well anyway, you are good with children, I don't know if the reason is because your mentality is similar to them but anyway you are better suited for this than me."

"...I don't like the beginning of your sentence but when you put it up like this, I can't really deny it."

Mira, when she wasn't getting angry or annoyed at Trista, was always one with a soft smile on her face, thus making her far more approachable than Trista who is rather cold and hardly show any emotions on her face, having usually a passive attitude. Trista wasn't one to mince her words even if the other party were children, while Mira had experience with interacting with the children back.

"...But still, they are sure taking their times, aren't they?" Trista eyed the upper floor from her seat.

"Well it can't be helped, it was a 10 years long awaited reunion, they must have many things they want to catch up about." Mira near her said so, but…

"Then why aren't they doing it here? They usually don't care about how noisy they are wherever they are."

"Well when you put it like that…"

"Mmm… Now that I think about it," Trista turned to the strangely silent cook who was still in the middle of the preparations, "...It isn't like you to be so silent, what's wrong?"

"..." However Ban didn't answered anything and just continued to cook. Trista stared at him curiously but he still didn't said anything.

"Do you perhaps know the reason of why they are taking so much time?"

After another silence.

"...Yeaaah… Pretty sure that I'm the reason…"

"What do you mean by—"

"—Sorry, sorry, sorry! It took a bit of time to convince King to come down but here we are!" However before she could finish her question, Trista was interrupted by Meliodas' voice along with the sound of footsteps descending the stairs

"You are late, Melioda...s…?" Trista trailed off as she saw Meliodas dragging King who has now two bumps on the head (one over the other) by the neck with optimism and energy while a really worried Elizabeth following them.

There was no need to overthink things, the most probable possibility of the situation was that King for a reason of another, refused to come down with them, thus leading Meliodas to beat him up in order to 'convince' him. Thus there was only one thing in Trista's mind right now, only one thing she needed to say…

"...Why must you lecture me each time if you do the same things yourself? I can't get it."

"..."

"..."

"..."

***Silence～***

...How awkward.

"...Triss, you…" Meliodas just said that, nothing else. But for some reason this alone was more than plenty to make Trista feel uncomfortable, "...Why are you looking at me as if I was some kind of freak completely beyond salvation?"

"Triss…"

"Cut it out with that look as if you were going to cry right now, it's disgust me."

"...Nishishi! Well it's true that you aren't wrong though!" Meliodas grinned like he usually does and the weird tension vanished, making the majority of the people there sweatdrop. "Ah, so the lunch was already done? Thanks for that, Ban!"

"...!" Upon hearing that name, King froze.

"Don't woooorry abou' it, Cap'n! Cooking is my best after stealing～!"

Elizabeth raised her hand in confusion, "Huh? Can we partake Ban-sama's cooking too? I thought that it was only for Ellen-chan and her brother..."

"Yup, we need to build up energy for the rest of the day after all! Don't worry, he may look like a savage but Ban is a good cook!"

"And in contrast, Cap'n may look normal but his cooking is Hell itseeelf～!"

The majority of the people here laughed at Ban's answer, creating a joyous atmosphere among them, the only exception was Trista who didn't showed any particular response, and…

"..."

"Oi, oi, oi, what are you staying all silent for, King?"

"...Captain, even though you know the reason…"

"Yup, but still, rules of the Seven Deadly Sins. Don't forget." Meliodas put his arms behind his head and whistled.

"U-Um, Meliodas-sama… King-sama is…" However Elizabeth was watching between the two of them in a very worried manner, despite Meliodas' usual attitude, King seemed to be very…

"Elizabeth? Hurry up and let's go eat already! I'm hella hungry and so are you, right?"

"W-Well yes, but…"

"See? Now hurry up and let's go～!" Meliodas grabbed Elizabeth's hand before pulling her behind him as he ran towards the table before placing his hands on Elizabeth's shoulders and made her sit near Trista and then taking a seat himself. He then turned to King and waved his hand to him, "Now you come too, King!"

"...Captain, please tell me that you are joking. Because seriously, it's really a joke of bad taste." King was looking down and clenching his fists hard, his expression wasn't smiling in the slightest.

But even with the menacing air around King, Meliodas' expression didn't changed, "King, I know that you must have your reasons, but still, there's nothing that bad about at least sharing a meal together, right?"

"Of course, there is! There's no way that I'm eating whatever this murderer made!"

At his words, Meliodas' smile fell. There was now a certain tension in the air, all the previous light mood filled with jokes was now gone, it felt now like one of those 'serious' situations where they needed all their attentions, as if they were back on the battlefield.

King was holding back his bubbling anger, Meliodas' expression were unreadable as he took a bite of his food, Mira and Trista were listening without saying anything, Elizabeth and the children were getting nervous about that unbearable silence, and Ban…

"What～? Well if you're not gonna eat then don't eat～ It's not liiiike I would cook for yoouu anyway～" Ban was speaking like he would usually, in a sing-song tone, yet his voice was cold and he refused to face King at all, instead focusing on cleaning the kitchen he just used.

"As if I would eat anything that had been made by your hands covered in blood! I'd rather die than do that!" King spitted his words as if they were venom.

His words caused confusion among the others besides for Meliodas, of course as a member of the Seven Deadly Sins who are renowned criminals who were originally condemned because of the atrocity of their sins, it wasn't impossible for them having killed in the past, even for a normal Holy Knight.

Yet the fact that King, a fellow Sin, was blaming him Ban as a murderer was making them a bit anxious. If they used to work together like Meliodas said, then what on earth caused such an hostility between them during those 10 last years when they didn't even met once?

Ban showed himself as a friendly person and even as a thief he had his own morals, yet there were no hints of lies and deception in the expressions King was showing, Ban too didn't seemed to deny his words, what on earth was happening?

"Is that so～? Then go ahead and starve yourself～"

"I'll gladly do that instead!"

"Come on, King…"

"But Captain—!"

"I know that you have your reasons with Ban, but can you leave that at later? Remember the rules of the Seven Deadly Sins?"

There exist seven laws that each member of the group is required to abide by, all of them were created by their captain, Meliodas, and among them...

Law #3: 'A Sin shall ask no questions of another member's sin.'

Law #4: 'If a friend is in crisis everybody needs to use all of his or her power to help.'

Law #5: 'When two Sins are in disagreement they can resolve it with a fight.'

Law #6: 'If two Sins are fighting to the death, the other five must do their utmost to stop them even if it means eliminating the perpetrator.'

Some of them were also contradicting themselves, and moreover none of them were benefiting King and his goal right now, none of them can give a reason for King to continue what he want to do.

"If you try to break those rules then you're aware that all of us would turn against you, you know? Do you think that you can take all of us at once, King?"

"Don't poke your nose in this, Cap'n～ This is only between King and me～" Ban warned, a certain edge of seriousness in his usually easygoing voice, and the look on his face wasn't his usual wolf-like grin.

Meliodas completely ignored it, he didn't even faced him as he answered, "Yup, yup, but once he broke one of the rules, it would concern all of us. So, King, the answer?"

Though King didn't spoke out the answer out, he already knew it in his mind. 'If I can face all of them at once? Of course I can't.' King thought bitterly, his teeths biting into his lower lip. It was a bit frustrating but he has no other choice but to recognize, certainly he was strong but there is always stronger than oneself somewhere in the world, and some of them are here right now.

He is the most recent and also current known Fairy King, his magical abilities, which were strong to begin with, were amplified further by his Sacred Treasure and his mastery over this Sacred Treasure of his, Spirit Spear Chastiefol, was second to none to any of the Sins (perhaps only to Merlin) as he can easily manipulate it by will alone and as long he possessed enough magic in his body in contrast of the others who needed to touch their Sacred Treasures physically in order to make them work.

However even he wouldn't be able to win if he were to face the other Sins, especially the three physically stronger among them, against him at once. Moreover his only target was Ban, who was the only one he directed all his bloodlust towards, even though Meliodas liked to tease him he didn't disliked him, the captain always brought a comforting presence among his peers, but more than anything, fighting against Diane was something he definitely won't do.

"And the most important rule…" Meliodas silently handed a plate with some piping hot pie on it towards him, "'All fights during mealtime are prohibited'!"

**…**

"...What?"

Meliodas frowned slightly at King's shocked response but soon regained his smile, "'What' what? You didn't heard me the first time? I said that 'all fights during mealtime are'—"

"No! This isn't what I meant! I heard you properly the first time, but there was not even once where I heard of such a rule!"

"Huh? You didn't?"

"I didn't!"

"How weird…"

"I don't know of it too Cap'n～ You sure you didn't made it up on the spot～?"

Meliodas thought about it for a while before nodding in understanding as if he just realized something, "Hm… If you say so Ban then it must surely be the truth."

"Wait, wait, why are you confirming my queeestion～?"

"How weird, since everyone agreed, I thought that it was an unspoken rule though… Well whatever, King. You can go ahead and beat Ban up as much as you like, but only after we have ate lunch, okay?" Meliodas scolded King with a smile like a mother scolding her child for some minor mischief, "Oh, and don't forget to not kill him! ...Not like he can die though."

"Oi, Cap'n～ Why are you making it sound like I'm the one who's gonna looose?!" Ban was pretty unhappy about it, if he can keep up with Meliodas then why on earth should he lose to King of all people? The words itselves sounded wrong to him.

"If it's anythin' then I'm gonna wipe the flooor with him～!"

"Seems like the floor is going to get messier instead. But who knows? You stayed inactive for 10 years, right?"

"And so were you Cap'n～ You lost some of your touch compared to 10 years ago, didn't yaaa?"

"Well, well, well, I wonder about that? Maybe I'm still stronger than you?" Both smiled cheekily at each other, ready to throw challenge of strength anytime soon.

The way they interacted with each other didn't changed since 10 years ago, and this brought a sensation of nostalgia to King. He often used to think about how his old comrades were doing by remembering the memories they shared together. In the past, it used to bring him a feeling of warmth and comfort, but now that he found out the truth… this only served to fuel further his anger and hatred.

King then closed his eyes with a deep frown and tried to calm his heart down but it just didn't worked. The current King didn't had his previous patience when it came to deal with his former teammates' idiocy, instead it just annoyed him further as his eyebrow start to twitch violently before he opened his previously closed eyes wide and…

"Cut it out! I am trying to talk seriously here—"

***PAF!***

"...!" However he completely forgot about the plate that Meliodas was pushing towards him, thus when he flung his left arm to show that he had enough, he accidentally knocked out the plate filled with piping hot freshly baked pie out of his captain's hand.

""Oh…"" Both of them said as they slowly widened their eyes, everybody around them doing the same action, before the pie flew out from the plate and ended up falling apart on the ground.

***Crash!***

The sound of a breaking glass could be heard as the plate ended up breaking apart into many pieces.

Another awkward silence took place. None of them reacted and that made King sweat nervously as he was frozen in place as all the eyes were now fixed on him. But then, before he had the time to even react, something else happened—

**…!**

"...?!" Before he knew it, at a lightning speed, King felt a sharp pain at his left cheek and felt himself fall backward and for some reason there was a sensation of familiarity about it, as if he felt it before and quite recently too.

"Guh…!" He grunted as his back hit the ground, but he didn't felt anything beneath him, it seems that thankfully he avoided on landing on the broken shards of the plate and the smashed pie.

"—Who do you think you are?" There was a cold and angry female voice ringing above him, a voice that was way too mature to fits her childish appearance, a voice that he couldn't not recognize anymore after she gave him so many headaches since this morning (because of the bruise on his forehead).

King put a hand on his cheek as he hissed slightly before looking up, seeing Trista with a foot set on the stool, lifting a bit her long skirt, glaring at him in unusual anger and holding a shining spoon in her right hand… wait, spoon?

_'...Don't tell me… she just hit me with a spoon?'_ There was no way, right? Even if he was the physically weakest of the Sins, there was no way that he would lost against a spoon, right?! It was even worse than the case with the bucket!

_'Or rather how is she doing this?! Wherever it's the bucket or the spoon, I didn't even sensed her moving!'_ Unlike the other Sins, King was keeping on alert during those ten last years, and moreover he always had his Sacred Treasure close to him, so it should be easy for him to intercept an attack of this level. ...And yet he didn't noticed anything until he got hit.

Trista then pointed the tip of her spoon towards him as if she was wielding a sword and then roared to him with a rare expression of emotion on her face, completely different from her usual vacant one, "Don't waste food, you ungrateful bastard!"

King could only look at her in a dumb manner, unable to answer back anything as Trista throw the spoon over her shoulder, making it fly into a large arc in the air before it landed on the table with a 'clink' metallic sound as she huffed in obvious annoyance.

However her words did made King realized the effect of his previous action. Even though he was deeply irritated by the fact that they were trying to feed him his sister's killer's handmade cooking, it wasn't his intention to reject his Captain's goodwill to such an extend (even if it he didn't did it on purpose and even his captain was too pushy) and so now, he felt a mix of guilt and responsibility about it. Especially since Meliodas didn't knew about what King was accusing Ban of, it wasn't something that was easy to say or to believe either.

But before he could even apologize for his actions, Trista stormed out of the Boar Hat, as if she has suddenly lost all will to eat. Another awkward silence reigned over the place and everybody looked at the direction where Trista left.

Mira was the first who snapped out of her trance, "I'll chase after her and drag her back!" So she said and then she ran off at her turn. Elizabeth realized the situation with a gasp and quickly followed Mira, outside they could also hear Diane's confused voice. It seems that all their female companions left to follow Trista's lead, not with the same intention as the former of course.

It was Meliodas who broke the silence among the men first, his hand rubbing the back of his head and a raised eyebrow on his face along with a surprised expression, "...Never expected that Triss can snap like that…"

"What do you mean?" Hawk near him asked, "Everyone get angry right? Even you who usually fool around, okay Trista isn't the most expressive person but it's not like she can't get angry too."

"Of course I know that even Triss can get angry, but she just doesn't show it often on her face, it's usually most in the atmosphere that we sense it like a kind of calm fury, but right now it was clearly written on her face. You feel it too, right? When she is annoyed, there is a kind of pressure in the air, but right now there was no pressure however she was still angry."

"Well, if you say so… but wow, you sure know her well, huh?"

"...Actually, not at all."

"Huh?"

Meliodas looked down in a pensive manner, for a second his bangs were hiding his eyes as he said the following words without particular emotion in it, "...I know her for 16 years already… but I don't know her well actually… on the contrary…"

"Meliodas…?" It wasn't like him to act like that, so Hawk expressed a bit of concern in his voice as he called out to him. But that fragile expression immediately disappeared as he raised his gaze again, leaving him with the usual Meliodas as he put a hand on his chin in reflexion, "But, but, but… I wonder what made her so angry?"

"Pugo, pugo! Well maybe she was angry for your sake?"

"Eh?" Meliodas widened his eyes in shock at Hawk's words before looking at the pig as if he had grown two heads, "What the heck are you talking about Hawk? Triss? Angry for my sake?"

Hawk then huffed through his nostrils, "Well it isn't completely impossible right? I know that she has a bratty attitude but it's not like she's heartless or anything, right?"

"...Hawk, you're actually quite a generous pig, aren't you?"

"...Is that only now you're noticing it? And don't speak as if I was never a generous pig up until now! But still even though what I said may be hard to believe, it isn't completely false, isn't it?"

"...Or instead…"

"Instead… what?"

"...It may be because the plate that I gave to King was actually Triss'."

"..."

"I snatched it away from her before she could take a bite after all…"

"..." Hawk couldn't answered anything at that, or rather he was even tired to react at everything, so for this time he just shut up and did nothing.

* * *

"Did you calmed down, Triss?" Meliodas asked Trista who seemed to be now in a more stable mood than her outburst of earlier.

"Yes, but now I am hungry." At the moment she said that, her stomach gave a small growl and Meliodas couldn't help but smile wryly at that, "Sorry but let's leave that for later, now we're going to try to go to the Capital of the Dead."

Trista raised an eyebrow at his answer, "Why? Didn't you find your comrade already? And alive too, so why go to the Capital of the Dead since you know that the rumors about him being dead are false."

"Well… I thought the same thing as you, but for some reasons, both King and Ban absolutely want to go to the Capital of the Dead and they refuses to do anything until they got what they want."

"Are they children throwing a tantrum?" Trista deadpanned. To her it was as if they were children who refused to follow their parents until they got the new toys they wanted to buy

"Well if it's Ban I can understand, but King throwing tantrum too is quite rare." Meliodas answered.

It was then that Trista's expression changed as realization struck her mind. "...Or… is there someone that they want to meet over there?"

"I can't confirm that answer but I think that it's more plausible." Meliodas agreed with a sharp look before he looked around him as if searching for something. "Isn't Mira coming with us?"

"...No, she is staying behind this time."

"C'mon, Triss. Even if she is clumsy you shouldn't force her to housesit all the time you know?"

"It was her who requested that, and I also agree with her decision."

"What do you mean by that?"

"...If the Capital of the Dead is a place that house the spirits of the deads, then that place would be ill-suited for her, it's better to avoid any possible risks."

"...And what do you mean by that?"

"Answering more than this out of her presence would be intruding in her privacy so I'll refrain myself from speaking."

_'So you care about people's privacy now?'_ Meliodas retorted tiredly in his mind. Though he wanted to ask more about it, he felt that she wouldn't answer which would lead to another unneeded waste of time, so for now he'll also refrain himself too.

"Captain～? What are you discussing alone with Trista?! Hurry up and come over here already～!"

""..."" Both of them turned to see Diane waving at them widely and calling out to them loudly.

Both turned to look at each other in a perfect sync and…

"...It's better to not lose time and head over there immediately, huh?"

"Yeah… otherwise she would start to misunderstand on her own and go on rampage again."

Both of them nodded to each other as they quickly ran towards where Diane and the others were waiting for them.

* * *

"Look like the entrance is around here. But isn't that just a superstition?" Diane wondered loud as she looked around her.

They were currently in a empty grass field close to the Tala Village, following the vague instructions (which was based on urban legends or rumors) of Ellen and Luigi about the location of the Capital of the Dead. However there was nothing but grass here, no wonder that it would make them doubtful.

"But even if the Capital of the Dead exists… how are we supposed to go to the afterlife?" Hawk asked, frowning.

"How about we kill ourselves?" Meliodas smiled as he slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand, speaking nonchalantly as if he was just announcing the weather.

Exasperated by this large contrast between the gravity of his words and the cheerfulness on his face, Hawk couldn't help but retort such a classic comeback, "ARE YOU STUPID?!"

"Well it's not like that it can't work."

"See?"

"Why are you taking his side?!" Hawk yelled in shock as Trista of all people, unexpectedly supported Meliodas' idea, and moreover the latter also seems to be quite happy about it.

Trista then frowned slightly, "But then there is no point to it if you can't come back alive after it."

"Coming back to life after dying is sure hard, huh?"

"Or rather it's completely impossible!" But because he was too busy to retort to each idiotic remark Meliodas was making, Hawk failed to see the self-mocking smile present on Meliodas' face.

Trista then looked and saw that among the people here, a very reluctant and unhappy King, was present but at quite a distance away from Ban.

"...Is he coming together with us?" Trista whispered to Meliodas, the latter didn't turned around and faced her with his gaze instead fixed on King too, but he still heard her question and answered her, "Yup. He tried to access to the Capital of the Dead many times apparently but always failed. I managed to convince him to come with us just for that sake."

"...And in exchange he decided to hold himself back from cutting the thief for the time being." Meliodas nodded at Trista's response.

"...And do you think he will respect it?"

"...I want to believe so, at least." Though there was some doubt about King's strong animosity towards Ban would let him keep his promise, Meliodas still wanted to believe in his comrades, which is why he gave back the Chastiefol that they took away earlier back to King. The two then said nothing more than this.

"'A priceless memory with the deceased will open the path'..." Elizabeth reminded herself of Ellen's words with a pensive look on her face before clapping her hands together with a hopeful smile, "Then, I… want to meet my mother who passed away when I was young, because I couldn't get to know her well back then."

"...Elizabeth, it would be great if she were to remember you and all but it wouldn't work if you hardly remember her too." Trista's flat and deadpan answer made Elizabeth blush in shame and embarrassment as she noticed her mistakes, "Ri… right…"

"Then what about you, Triss?"

"Huh?"

"Do you share any memories that may open the way towards the Capital of the Dead?"

Trista was surprised by Meliodas' sudden question, but soon after her expression turned solemn as she just lowered her gaze as if she wanted to avoid their gazes, "No. I don't share any fond memories with the dead people over here, I must instead say that they despises me."

"...?" What did she meant by this? And there was also an absolute certainty in her voice. Everyone was confused by this but the expression she was making was rejecting all questions.

However then Trista looked up and widened her eyes in shock as she muttered out, "...! This is…?"

Suddenly around them, even though there was nothing else but grass just earlier, there was now an endless amount of white flowers blooming in the field they were in, filling the space as far as their eyes could see.

"What's with these flowers?" Elizabeth wondered as she crouched down on her knees and extended a hand towards those flowers to confirm if they were real or not.

Meliodas too was shocked as he looked at all the flowers surrounding them, "Where they blooming just a second ago?"

"Who cares? They're just flowers." Diane didn't cared much about them though.

"No, this is…" But Trista didn't even had the time to finish what she wanted to say as something weird happen. Suddenly the flowers petals started to fall off from the stalk to which they were bound to earlier and as if they were carried by the wind, started to surround the group, forming a circle around them.

"The flower petals are…?!"

But then the strength of the wind and speed grew stronger to the point that the petals could no longer be seen as a tornado was literally forming itself around them, with them being the center of it and engulfing them completely. The pressure of the wind forced everyone to close their eyes to endure it, and when after they couldn't hear it anymore, Meliodas decided to open an eye in wariness before he widened his eyes fully at the scene in front of him.

They were now in a place only filled with green-colored transparent crystals sticking out from the everywhere, the sky and clouds were also of a curious yellowish green color, and moreover there was a strange sensation that he felt from within himself, one that pulsed inside him, screaming that he didn't belonged to such a place. The previous flower field they were in was nowhere to be seen, no wind could be felt against their skin, as if in this place time itself wasn't moving. Everything was so big that even the giantess Diane was 'small' in comparison.

"Ca-Captain…" Diane called out to him, hesitantly, as surprised as he was to see their current location, a silent question in her mind left unasked.

But just that was plenty enough for Meliodas to understand what she wanted to say as he just gave a single word as answer, "Yeah…" There's no doubt about it… this is the Capital of the Dead. He didn't said any more about that but it was plenty for her to understand too.

"It is possible that my longing to my mother, led us there…?"

"No… It might be my memories of the leftovers I was never able to eat…"

Elizabeth's assumption was far more plausible than Hawk's, but Meliodas felt that it wasn't that either, "I have no idea." At least he was pretty sure that it wasn't thanks to him.

"Me neither!" It seems that Diane too wasn't aware of how they got access to it. So Meliodas was about to ask to the others, but then—

**…!**

"BAN?!" Diane shouted to the red-clothed bandit in shock as he suddenly jumped forward, out of the crystal where they were standing in order to hop on the next one in front of him, using all his strength in his legs and flew like some kind of whirlwind, ignoring all the obstacles in front of him.

But then King chased straight after, holding his floating pillow (Chastiefol) and boosting the speed of his flight ability, quick like an arrow that had been shot and an enraged expression on his face.

"KING…?!" Even his beloved Diane's voice calling out to him wasn't enough to stop him. Seeing both her comrades ran away at the highest speed without the singlest explication. "Captain… what would we do?"

"We'll chase after them for now…" This should be the best thing to do for now as they don't have the slightest idea of what was going on, but then…

"Meliodas-sama! I can't find Trista-san at all!"

"What…?!" Upon hearing Elizabeth's panicked voice, Meliodas took a careful look around him, and indeed, Trista was nowhere in sight. There was no way that she could have left without them noticing or anything, but why on earth was she the only one who wasn't present here?

_'...Don't tell me she got left behind…? No, there's no way, but still…'_ ...Meliodas didn't knew how right he was.

* * *

"Ellen, did you see that…?"

"Ye-Yeah… Those people disappeared in an instant."

"...However…"

"...Yeah…"

Both Luigi and Ellen looked awkwardly at the only one who was left, who was Trista standing in the middle of the grass field, her back turned to them.

"W-Why was only the bucket lady left behind…?"

"E-Even if you ask me that…" 'How should I know the answer?'... he didn't even had the time to say that as he felt a chill running down his spine and cold sweat starting to gather on his skin, he could see that his sister too was trembling in fear.

...It was worse than the staring contest of this morning.

A dark aura of gloom and annoyance was floating around Trista, her cold voice which wasn't much expressive had a hint of anger in it. "...Hoh…? So you dare to refuse me the access? I got it, you punk. So this is how you want to play, huh? Then challenge accepted, just you wait I'll definitely get back at you for it…" So she was murmuring to herself, not even noticing that two frightened children were staring at her, the fact that they couldn't even see her face when she was doing such a thing made the thing even more creepy, because she looked like to be ready to throw a curse at someone right now.

Whoever was the victim of her anger, they prayed for them to be able to live through it.

"...!" However suddenly her shoulders quivered as she quickly turned around, the early weird aura around her disappearing and her expression becoming serious and focused, both children flinched at this but her following words threw them off, "Who is there? Show yourself."

The two children looked at each other in confusion, the same question going through their minds. To who on earth was she talking about? But soon they got their answer as another voice was heard from behind them.

"—I see. It looks like the Capital of the Dead truly exists."

""...?!"" Behind them, suddenly, was a young woman with long black hair with a pale pink headband and very narrow eyes as if she was closing them iup, she wore a single white one piece with a small white coat and white high heel armored boots and gloves.

"So they are headed towards the Capital of the Dead?" She asked with a smile on her face as she walked towards them.

"Who… is this person?" Ellen took a step back, wary and a little scared of the sudden apparition of this stranger.

Luigi glared at the woman before his eyes widened and realization struck his mind, "Are you a Holy Kni…!" However he couldn't even finish his sentence as before he even knew it, he felt himself being pulled upward and unable to breath as if the air was blocked as there was a firm hold on his neck keeping him from breathing.

"Ugh… Gah!"

"Gah… Sto…" Luigi heard his sister's choking and painful voice as he saw in shock that she was in the same situation as him, both of them were being strangled by this unknown woman. He tried to pry himself off her grip with his hands on her wrist and kicking his legs uselessly in the air, as his little sister was too weak to be able to do anything but tremble in agony.

"If it's alright with you, please tell me how to get to the Capital of the Dead." The woman asked, perfectly calm and smiling as always, as if she wasn't doing something as horrible than strangling two children in both hands. Yet they both understood that she wasn't just asking, but threatening them, and if they didn't answered her they would have their necks snapped.

'Why… should I… tell her, anything…?!' Luigi thought furiously, glaring at the older woman.

It was completely different from the scary man with the scar on his neck, Luigi misunderstood the kind of person he was due to his scary appearance and the fact that he was holding his unconscious sister, he thought that he was attacking her while the man was just tending her. It was then that his errors and told them the informations he had on the Capital of the Dead.

However this woman was different, while she may look normal she wasn't, wherever it was physically or mentally. And Luigi felt from within himself that he should never tell her about the Capital of the Dead. Yet, the suffering expression that his sister was making made him waver, and at the moment he was going to open his mouth. But then—

***Fwoosh～***

The woman widened her narrow eyes as she felt like a gust of wind passing through her, but then she frowned upon seeing that the hands that she used to strangle those children were now empty. She turned around and saw a doll-like girl wearing an extravagant dress crouching on the ground and holding two children in her arms.

Trista looked over her shoulder as she directed a slight glare towards the woman. "Strangling children to get informations? That's not very knightly, is it?"

The latter only smiled in response, her earlier surprise was nowhere to be seen on her face, "In this era, chivalry is a bit old-fashioned, and shouldn't one do everything in order to obtain what they want? However you are quite fast, aren't you? To think that you would be able to accomplish such a feat without me noticing."

"If so then you should pay better to your attention." Trista then put the children on the ground and gave a simple but strong tap on both their backs, making them coughing up and gasping for air again.

"...Take your sister and run back to the Boar Hat, search for Mira and don't leave her side, she would protect you." She whispered to them, especially to the brother.

Ellen widened his eyes and looked back at Trista hesitantly, it was obvious that she didn't wanted to left her behind, but her brother had a determined glint in his eyes, he probably understood that if they stayed with Trista, they would only be a burden to her. So he nodded strongly, took his sister by the hand and ran of all his strength.

"I have yet received any answer, and you think that I will let you escape?" The woman was about to go after them as she jumped forward.

Trista frowned in response and thrusted her heel in the ground strongly, and her shadow suddenly expended forward—

***Gogogogogo…!***

The ground covered by the shadow started to tremble in response, and suddenly from near where Trista thrusted her heel, something suddenly surged out from that place, blocking the woman's way and making her jump back in surprise.

"What on earth is this…?!"

There were drops on the ground as if it turned liquid as if a puddle of water suddenly appeared, and at its center was an ominous large black sword standing there. It was hard to see if it was the sheathed or not, but the blade was black as if it was covered in scales, the appearance was rough and unsymmetrical and there were some kind of whitish shining lines on it.

It hardly looked like a proper sword that people would find nowadays, yet the Holy Knight couldn't help but feel a slight chill upon seeing it, making her forget about all her earlier plans and hesitate on place, she could felt something inside her pulse in sight of this sword, as if it was reasoning with it, she couldn't felt herself move as if she was entranced by it.

Trista then glanced behind her, the siblings were out of sight, so it gave them enough time to ran away. Good, she nodded to herself before walking towards the sword.

A sword far too big for her to wield, a sword larger than her body. Yet, as if it was sensing her approaching, the sword shone through the ground and cracks around it start to morph itself, being caused by the ripples on it and transforming into stairs for her to walk on.

She walked on it, her footsteps reasoning and natural like flowing water. She stopped at the last one and then grasped its hilt.

The sword shone brighter through its white lines, and the stairs where she was on broke upon coming in contact with it. Yet Trista didn't fell, instead she just floated until she reached the ground, the light of the sword protecting her, and when her feets finally touched the ground, that light vanished.

Trista raising her sword unfits for her small build upward, twirling it in her hands before pointing it towards the still frozen Holy Knight, "...Sorry for the unneeded spectacle, now shall we begin?"

* * *

**A/N.: CLIFFHANGER... Yes, Triss can curse bad words too, Meliodas never expected it. And once again sorry, I promised for battle and still nothing today, but next time for sure, really sure! So please forgive me, everyone! Especially for the readers like _merendinoemiliano_ who were looking for badass fights! Please don't expect too much from my poor writing (T_T)**

**Hawk's "dying thoughts"(?) managed to reach King's in his dreams XD**

**Today's title is quite poor, didn't knew what to write about it, sorry.**


	15. Capital of the Dead Arc - V

**A/N.: Hello everyone! Here is today's chapter, I hope that you won't be too disappointed with it! A small battle scene is present, please be gentle with the judgement (T_T) This is the last chapter of the arc of the Capital of the Dead.**

* * *

**CAPITAL OF THE DEAD ARC - V : _A Pursuer who Fears_**

* * *

King didn't wanted things to end up like this. Though he didn't appreciated Ban's personality nor his ways of doing back when they were still working together as fellow members of the Seven Deadly Sins, he did considered him properly as a comrade he could trust when it was needed.

And despite all the animosities he felt towards him, deep down he still wanted to think of him as a comrade, he didn't wanted to believe that all the evil deeds of erasing the Fairy King's Forest and killing the Saint of the Fountain of the Youth was done by him.

If Ban were to try and explain himself, King would be willing to listen to him.

If it were for proper reasons other than to satisfy his personal greed, he would understand.

If he were to truly regret his actions, it wouldn't be easy but maybe King would eventually forgive him..

They wouldn't be able to go back to how it was in the past, but at least they wouldn't be enemies anymore.

...However the man did none of these, he didn't denied any of the accusations King threw to him but used them to provoke the former Fairy King with his most ashamed failures instead. Something that only served to raise the hatred King felt for Ban and he couldn't forgive him anymore. Boiling rage took over and King decided to trap him in a hell worse than death, since killing him wouldn't be enough he turned Ban's body into a stone statue.

King was grateful that he was separated from Meliodas and his group, that they have yet caught up to him, that they haven't witnessed yet what he was done. He didn't wanted his beloved and his Captain to ever see such an ugly and destable side of him.

But it was too late now, now that the deed is done there is no turning back anymore. His comrades were kind enough to try to allow both Ban and him to reconcilie, but it didn't worked, it wasn't like they were into a argument to begin with, it was a far more serious matter after all. It didn't worked, and he didn't has a place in the Seven Deadly Sins anymore, he didn't deserve to return back to them anymore…

"...To the very end, not even a word of repentance, huh…? That's just like you, Ban…" King murmured so, floating in the air with his Spirit Spear back to his side, watching the peaceful expression of his former comrade now turned into stone.

Just a bit, he felt envious about how Ban seemed to show such an expression without regret. And as he was preparing himself to leave…

_"—Wait."_

His eyes widened as he heard a voice that he didn't heard for so many years, and though he couldn't see her form, he was sure that he wouldn't mistake this voice for anyone else. After all he spend the majority of his life together with the owner of that voice… until, he made the error of left her behind. It was a voice that he thought he would never hear again, but such a thing was only possible because of the place they were; the Capital of the Dead.

"Elaine…?!" King called out in astonishment, the name of his precious younger sister.

* * *

_'...How weird, is the Holy Knights' training regime nowadays that hard for them to become so strong?' _Meliodas thought so as looked at the Holy Knight Guila, who just walked out from the smoke, unscathed from the explosion attack he just threw back at her twice stronger with his Full Counter.

Geez, her long black hair wasn't disheveled and not even her immaculate white clothes were stained with dirt or anything, and both him and Diane were covered with dust and dirt…

He thought of her as overflowing with confidence with how she challenged them despite knowing their reputations and approached them without even wearing her entire armor and her body exposed to their blows.

It was embarrassing to say that even if he was holding back in order to not kill her, both he and Diane were still getting beaten up by her without landing a single blow on her. And there was an ominous feeling that he felt from her, one that put his senses on alert and was also strangely familiar, for a reason he can't understand.

That girl has two of the Seven Deadly Sins facing her simultaneously and wasn't even sweating a bit, her breath perfectly calm and steady and was handling them perfectly.

Thus Meliodas decided to use this fight to analyze her strength instead of defeating her for good, if all the Holy Knights were like her then it would be a bit troublesome, but still…

"...You, seems quite pale. You okay there?" Meliodas couldn't help but ask so, showing concern towards an opponent wasn't always genuine when it came from him, it was either as a joke or a provocation to make the enemy lose his temper and more vulnerable under the assumption that he was being looked down. However this time, even Diane was agreeing with him due to how she wasn't getting jealous over it and threw a puzzled look at Guila…

"...What are you talking about?" Guila smiled, completely unaware of the strange looks that she received from both Meliodas and Diane, she was completely unaware of her own condition, was it due to the fact that one was unable to see its own face unless it was reflected by something?

Indeed, she was strong, she wasn't even sweating a bit and her breath wasn't ragged. ...However she looked pale, too pale for it to be her natural skin color, there were dark circles under her eyes as if she didn't slept for days, it was as if she went through Hell before coming here. Earlier, she fearlessly announced that she killed herself in order to come here, and her bravery… or rather recklessness seemed to be genuine.

Yet what got her so afraid…?

It was then that another thought occured to Meliodas…

"You… Did you meet someone before coming here?"

"...Trying to distract me in the middle of a battle by discussion? This is an unexpectedly a low move from the esteemed leader of the Seven Deadly Sins." Guila chuckled as Diane frowned in displeasure, however Meliodas didn't reacted and instead asked further, taking account of her personality, it seems that if he were to push his questions further then he would get his answers.

"Nope, just that we left two children back there, wanted to know how they were doing."

"Oh my, showing concern for villagers? How kind of you, it is hard to believe that you are the bloodthirsty criminal you are known to be."

"..."

"But well, if it's your last demand, I shall answer."

_'Good!'_ Meliodas internally grinned over how his plan easily succeeded.

"The two children are fine, they ran away before I could question them though."

"...Wasn't there anyone else with them?" By 'anyone' he meant Trista who seemed to have been left behind with them, she wasn't with the group when they arrived and they searched through the Capital of the Dead but didn't find any signs of her being there.

Guila then raised her eyebrows as pure confusion appeared on her face before it grew into another understanding smile, "What kind of tactic is this? Or were you expecting some help coming from outside? If so then it is quite unfortunate for you, because when I arrived, **_there was nobody together with them_**."

* * *

_This happened a little before Guila reached the Capital of the Dead in order to meet Meliodas and his comrades._

_Guila became a Holy Knight just recently, up until a day ago, she was still a Holy Knight apprentice under the tutelage of the Holy Knight Helbram. After accepting to drink the blood of a demon's corpse under the Great Holy Knight Hendrickson's proposition, she finally managed to awaken her latent magic power and was placed in the rank of the 'New Generation' of Holy Knights._

_Her first mission upon receiving that title was to track down the Seven Deadly Sins, she just stumbled upon them when they entered in the Capital of the Dead and thus interrogated the two siblings who seems to know about how to enter it._

_Yet there was also an 'unknown factor' present._

_When Gilthunder informed that the rumored 'Underground Witch' which had been only an urban legend made up to scare children was actually real and that she was traveling with the Sins. Of course Guila didn't believed much in it and certainly didn't expected it to be a petite girl who looks like a doll. She remembered often asking her father for a doll in her childhood but none of the dolls she ever saw could compare at the one in front of her._

_That same girl interfered with her interrogation and seemed at least physically apt to be able to take her off guard and rescued the children before she even noticed. The original plan for Guila was to catch back the children but the unexpected move from the Witch kept her from doing so by letting the children escape out of her reach, so Guila decided to change her plan and instead to interrogate this girl instead as it seems that she failed to enter to the Capital of the Dead with her comrades but seems to know how to go in it._

_Yes, those were all her initial intentions._

_Such intentions were immediately forgotten as she laid her eyes upon the sword the girl with heterochromia just called forth. A thing that could barely be called a proper sword and seemed more like a rough armored sword sheath with a sword hilt._

_Yet the feeling of dread that she could feel from it couldn't be ignored. It didn't came from the sword's ominous appearance, it came from herself, it was an emotion from unknown origin. But she decided to ignore it, after all there was almost no difference in size between the girl and the sword, even if it was to show off, there was no way that the girl could put such a thing to use. Moreover Guila was a Holy Knight and she trusted in her own abilities._

_The doll-like girl who wield the sword almost larger than herself didn't seemed to notice her reaction just took one slow and calm step forward—and then in a single leap, managed to close the distance between the two of them, being at one step in front of Guila._

_"...?!" Before Guila could blink, the girl swung her sword upward, disarming Guila from her lance and then was ready to strike again with a vertical slash at her unguarded body._

_Guila's awareness finally kicked in as she instinctively jumped back before the blow could connect to her armorless body and caught the lance that was thrown in the air earlier which now fell back into her hand, the hilt in her grip._

_And then without letting her the the time to think further, another strike is descending on her, from above this time! The blade moving swiftly akin to a black gale, but Guila blocked it properly with her lance._

_"Kuh…!" Guila grunted as she gritted her teeths, the blow is extremely heavy and her legs are forced slightly on the ground as she gasps from the shockwave that ran through her body._

_The sword was extremely heavy, the blade covered in scales acting like a thick and rough but still sturdy sheath, if she were to take a hit on her body without protection then she would without doubt end up with her bones broken, she didn't knew if she could die from it however she was sure that she wouldn't be able to move any soon after receiving a full-force strike of it._

_The most impressive was the physical strength that came from the petite and frail-looking body of the girl who was manipulating such a heavy and unreliable weapon so swiftly, her agility and speed despite the restraining dress she was wearing._

_However the more that exchange continue, the more Guila felt that something was strange._

_Indeed with her fierce attacks, the girl kept Guila focused on defense up until now, but it seems that the girl didn't had enough endurance to keep it going forever. Slowly but surely, Guila felt herself going on the offensive even if all her lance thrusts were intercepted by the abnormally large sword. And yet…_

_***Clang!***_

_—And yet…_

_***Ching!***_

_—And yet… at each blow they exchanged, why did Guila felt like she got pushed further and further into a corner…?_

_—Each time the sounds of the clashing metal between her lance and that sword rang…_

_***Thump…***_

_—Her heart start to beat faster._

_***Thump… thump…***_

_—And along with that accelerating heartbeat, she could feel the blood boiling inside her body._

_"...?!" ...Guila felt sick, the girl in front of her didn't seemed to care about it as she continued with restless assaults._

_Guila was sweating, was it out of tiredness? Was it out of nervousness because of the fact that she is losing time here or the fact that she had yet managed to land a blow on her? No, it was neither of them, Guila realized it as the sweat she felt descending on her neck was in fact cold sweat._

_Her limbs were also trembling, it was weird, even she shouldn't be exhausted so quickly, so why…?_

_…!_

_***CLANG!***_

_"...Uh…!" During that moment of inattention, a vicious blow was stricken at her side, sending Guila flew away from a few meters, she bite back the yell of pain that was about to come out from her throat and planted her lance in the earth with all her strength, cutting a large line into the ground, in order to slow down and stop her propulsion._

_'It hurts a lot, but there was no blood coming out, it seems that it wasn't enough to cut me.' Such a thought went through her mind as she laid her hand over her right side which had been hit just now, feeling slight relief that it wasn't a fatal blow. And yet…_

_Even though she should be relieved, just why couldn't she calm down…?_

_"..." The doll-like girl who had been attacking her restlessly up until now suddenly stopped. Her mismatched eyes staring at Guila as if she was trying to look through her, to unreveal all her secrets bare here and now, it was a really unpleasant sensation and it felt eerie, giving her goosebumps on her skin._

_However if she were still hesitating then Guila should take that chance to finally launch a counterattack, but before she could do so, the doll-girl just frowned at her, as if she was confused by Guila herself, before asking. "You… are you afraid?" It looked like that she was unsure of it herself and was just asking for confirmation but those words struck Guila deeply._

_**…**_

_'...Eh? Afraid…? Me…?' Guila's mind slowly registered that girl's words as realization struck in her mind._

_The sweat that was on her neck was cold, the goosebumps on her skins, the trembling in her limbs… it was all because she was afraid. She wanted to deny those words but she couldn't find anything that can prove otherwise, even though it should be easy to deny them. But instead she tried to search for the source of that fear._

_'But of what, of who…? Of her…? ...Wrong…'_

_Indeed her speed hardly left Guila the time to do anything but to guard herself against it and it was impressive for her to be able to wield such a large and heavy sword. But it wasn't the girl that she was afraid of. Instead of her…_

_Slowly, Guila's gaze and attention was brought back to the dark sword and once she finally laid her eyes on it, fully…_

_***THUMP—!***_

_"...?!" The heartbeat she felt this time was strong enough to reason through her whole body, she felt as if her blood itself froze in terror and the feeling that she tried to ignore and push away all this time, resurfacing and overtaking her entirely. And then she felt something lurking within herself, she didn't heard any voice and yet she understood what it was trying to convey somehow, the meaning reasoning through the dept of her being._

_**Scary…**_

_Why?_

_**Scary…**_

_About what?_

_**Scary…!**_

_What is?_

_**THAT SWORD IS SCARY!**_

_"...?!" At that last statement, Guila couldn't feel her body anymore as if all her senses have cut off, her legs raised her up on her own as she took her lance and directed it towards the girl, gathering magic at the tip of it and starting to shoot at her a chain of explosions flares without stopping._

_This was her magic ability, **Explosion**._

_"..." The girl just jumped backward or avoided the flares of explosions by dodging them while jumping on the side, if she couldn't avoid them then she just blocked them with her large sword that acted as a shield._

_Soon one explosion started, thus detonating the nearby flare and as an immediate reaction, unclenching all the explosions, creating a line of them before all of them mix together and create a gigantic one, there was no doubt that the girl was caught in the blast of it._

_Guila knew that in her mind that even her couldn't escape from it no matter how fast she was. Her mind knew and yet her body didn't seemed to be as assured. The 'something' within her kept her body and magic moving, unstopping as she keep on firing at the same place, where the girl was, and her own body refusing to go any closer to her._

_**Don't go any closer…**_

_**Don't come any closer…**_

_**Don't let that sword pierce you…!**_

_All those warnings were carved inside her body, ignoring her mind her body only moved onto instincts she didn't even knew she had and focused onto keeping the distance between that girl and her, between that sword and herself._

_Guila didn't even noticed that her randoms and rampaging attacks were affecting, damaging and destroying the houses of the Tala Village and setting the nearby woods on fire. A large fire was set on the village, yet Guila wasn't stopping, she couldn't stop herself due to the fear of unknown source taking over her body._

_And when a single large black sword cut through the fire with the figure of its wielder walking out with slightly burnt clothing but no visible wounds on her._

_"You… what on earth are you doing? What on earth are you trying to do?" The girl glared at her after witnessing the destruction she brought to her surroundings before raising her sword again._

_**...She can still wield her sword.**_

_**She can still fight…**_

_**She can still swing that sword.**_

_**No… No, NOOO!**_

_And as if to answer her despair, the girl sprinted towards Guila once again._

_Don't come, don't come, don't come!_

_Shots of explosion flares started again akin to a rain of arrows, yet the girl didn't stopped this time, nor did she tried to avoid it. She just used her sword as a shield or deflecting some flares with her blade and just kept on running forward without stopping, without even caring about the explosions that were against her, charging like some kind of enraged bull._

_...And once again, here she is in front of Guila, her sword swung like an hallebarde above her before Guila could gather her magic to shoot at her again and making her forget all her training and reflexes up until now._

_The sword lowered down barely brushing the woman's skin, but that alone was plenty enough to cause a reaction—_

_I feel sick, it's wrong, I feel sick, i-i-i-it's wrong, I fEEl SiCK, iT'S wRoNg, I FEel sIcK iT'S WrOnG, I FeEL SIcK iT's wROnG I feEl siCk…!_

_—Guila felt a disgusting sensation inside of her body, as if a part of her blood itself shifted place in hurry in her body for the sake of avoiding to come in contact with the blade of that black sword. And for the first time since the beginning of this fight, Guila opened her mouth to speak—_

_**"—****NOOOOOOOOO! DON'T EAT MEEEEEEEE!"** ...She didn't even knew if it was herself who said this or the thing inside her, she couldn't recognize with one it was anymore._

_"...?! What are you—" She didn't even noticed that the girl stopped in her attack a hinch from her head and looked at her in shock after hearing her statement._

_All she felt is that all her physical senses right now were at their highest peak, that her blood was pulsing violently through her veins to the point of bursting them out, drawing out even further than the magic inside her, in the Demon blood she drank…_

_"—?! Black flames?!"_

_At that moment, the explosion flare that was at the tip of her rapier was covered in black flames, and unfortunately because she was too close, she didn't managed to dodge this one or to deflect it and ended up getting taking it from the front, with no way of escaping._

_The large sphere of black flames soon engulfed the girl before flying towards a nearby house, crashing it into the wall and setting it on fire._

_"Haaah… haaah… haaah…" Guila finally feeling her senses returning to her as the black sword was finally out of her view, could only gasp some hasty breath, not even noticing when she stopped breathing at some point. With the adrenaline being gone of her body, all her exhaustion returned at once to the point that her legs trembled._

_And soon even that feeling disappeared. 'Why was I even so out of breath?' Guila wondered as she put a hand over her chest, over her heart, her body was calm in contrast of earlier and because of such a sudden changement, she couldn't even remember what got her so panicked in first place. She tried to remember but for some reason that part felt blurry, she also got the sensation that she just fought with someone but…_

_'Ah, that's right… I was trying to follow the Seven Deadly Sins and get in the Capital of the Dead…' She thought so in a drowsy manner. However the children she captured ran away and she didn't had time to lose otherwise the Sins may run away somewhere again._

_She didn't knew the traditional way to reach that place, so she just tried the way that seemed the most easy to her… After all the Capital of the Dead is a place where dead go after their deaths right? So as a living, all she need to do was one thing…_

_Without any hesitation, Guila stabbed her hand through her chest. None of what happened just there was left in Guila's memories._

* * *

And after Guila's consciousness left for the Capital of the Dead, over here in the real world…

"...PWAH—!" Bursting out from the rubbles of the house she crashed in, Trista was standing there, holding her sword as a can as she pushed herself out from the crater she was in.

The black flames were burning her body and eating away her clothes were suddenly sucked in the sword like a vacuum until they entirely disappeared.

Trista coughed as the smoke dissipated before brushing off the dust on her long dress and walking away from the charcoal black rubbles that turned to dust.

"Wah… It surprised me… I never expected her to react like that… Oh?" Trista trailed off as she noticed that a few meters away, Guila was standing there.

She immediately reacted as she wield her sword once more but then noticed that Guila didn't moved at all, she was completely immobile. Expecting a trap, Trista readied herself and waited but…

After 10 seconds… 30 seconds… one minute…

_'...Nothing?'_ Trista expected her to have laid traps around when Guila send her crashing in the wall and yet there was nothing in sight. She couldn't feel anything around her either, and Guila herself was still unmoving.

So hesitantly, Trista approached from Guila's unmoving form, her sword in hand for the sake of intercepting any attempt of trickery at her life.

"...?!" Then she widened her eyes upon seeing that Guila's hand was impaled in her own chest, a smile on her face was present.

_'She… stabbed herself?!'_ Even Trista was overcome with shock, no matter how she looked at it, it was a stupid suicide-like action, one wrong move and it would lead to a certain death. Was this woman overcome with insanity? Indeed, her attitude became weird in the middle of their fight, but to the point of killing herself…

...Wait, killing herself?

It was then that the words that Meliodas said earlier came back to her mind…

_"How about we kill ourselves?"_

When they were discussing over how to enter the Capital of the Dead, Meliodas proposed his idea like that. It was obvious that he meant it as a joke and had no real intention to perform it, yet the woman in front of her just did such a thing. All for the sake of entering to the Capital of the Dead!

_'...This is something that I can never reproduce, huh? Are Holy Knights all suicidal like this nowadays?'_ A slight feeling of awe went through Trista before exasperation replaced it.

She then waved her hand in front of Guila's face to confirm if she was really out of cold and she received no response… well it was actually hard to know since she always seemed to have her eyes closed but this time she truly seems to be unconscious. Then n, Trista gaze switched between Guila and the sword in her hand...

_'However why was she so afraid back then…?'_

The terror on her face, the hysteria that she showed, along with all those desperate attacks to keep her from approaching… none of them seemed to be false.

She was without doubt a Holy Knight with actual magic power, if she was a newbie then it wouldn't be surprising for her to be surprised and taken off guard, however to be scared of a sword while she wield one…? Trista was sure that she didn't looked scary to the point that people would believe that she would eat them, so what did she meant by 'Don't eat me'? And more than anything…

_'...It reacted.'_ Trista glanced at her now unresponsive sword. But without doubt earlier, the sword pulsed towards the girl, akin to a single heartbeat, it trembled and directed itself towards her by itself, as if it was yearning for her blood to be spilled on it, Trista didn't showed it on her face but it took all she can to hold it back from attacking her on its own.

...But why? Wasn't she just an human? ...Or there was something special about her constitution? There wasn't any clues, there wasn't any hints, the sword didn't answered her anymore, she couldn't understand it anymore, it wasn't reacting anymore.

_'...Still, did she managed to reach it? To the Capital of the Dead…'_ If so then she must actually be interacting with Meliodas and the others, that Holy Knight was without doubt an enemy, at the moment she is thinking so they must already be in the middle of the battle…

Trista raised her sword to the neck of the unmoving girl… if she were just to swing it, then she would die. If the body dies first then the soul follow soon afterwards, but there is also the possibility that she end up staying in the Capital of the Dead forever too and keep on fighting Meliodas and the others…

However killing her now would be far more easy than to deal with her in the future… especially with the fact that she can use those troublesome black flames…

All she needed, was a single swing, a single slash, and this girl would be… Thus Trista raised her sword…

"..."

...Only to lower it at the end, no blood was splashed, no flesh was cut. The woman was alive in front of her as Trista just tightened her grip over the sword hilt, the tip of her blade hitting the ground.

_'...Not yet.'_ Trista thought in her mind, '_Though I have a lot of questions about her, the objective here is to kill as less as possible. No matter how weak they are, the Holy Knights can still be used as valuable assets, even this girl…'_

"Trista-chan—!"

"...?!" Trista widened her eyes and looked up to see Mira running towards her, the two children that she let escape earlier were at her sides, probably being the ones who led them here.

_'Why did they came back here for? Even though I told them to stay put in the Boar Hat with Mira… and moreover they even brought her here.'_

"Bucket lady, are you okay?!"

"You're all burnt up! Is that the Holy Knight who did this to you?!" Both Luigi and Ellen were looking at her in a worried manner.

_'...It seems that I would be forever known as a bucket-throwing person to them, huh…?'_ Trista thought wryly before answering them. "I am alright, only my clothes are burnt and yes she did this to me."

"...!" It was when she saw what was in Trista's hand that Mira stopped in her tracks and grabbed both children's arms before pulling them behind her, stopping them from their attempts to reach Trista.

"...?! Mirror lady…?" Ellen looked at her curiously before she followed her gaze and soon saw the sword.

"Th-This is…!" Luigi froze as his skin suddenly turned far paller, sweat descending on his face like a waterfall and trembling in terror, it was a perfect mirroring of Guila's reaction earlier, and it was shared by Ellen.

Only Mira somehow maintained her composure, though she was still sweating in nervosity and in uncomfort as she spoke to Trista in a serious manner, not any trace of her previous clumsy self was present. "...That sword, please put it away."

"...!" It was at that time that Trista realized of what Mira was talking about. In response, the sword trembled more violently and dark fog started to surround it.

Mira took a talisman out of her sleeve and held it between her fingers, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, her other arm covering the children who were trembling in fear.

Trista gritted her teeths and forced the sword deeper in the ground, creating a small crack in it and waited, her trembling hands tight wrapped around the hilt to the point of bleeding. And she waited…

At the beginning, nothing changed. But eventually the dark mist started to disappear around the sword and under from the crater, under the sword, started to surge out.

It was… hard to describe with words.

Something like an ominous black mud started to come out, it didn't seemed to be liquid and looked more like a shadow yet gave the feeling of a bottomless swamp. So dark and ominous, yet there were red glowing lines akin to circuits in it. The three cringed upon seeing it, the children clung closer and tighter to Mira's clothes. Trista just concentrated herself and pushed the sword in it.

The sword slowly descended in the shadow, and when it was halfway in it, Trista let go of the hilt. The sword continued its decent alone, and until it was completely engulfed in it, the shadow itself disappeared, there were no traces of it left in the ground, as if it was never here in first place.

Trista gave a heavy sigh in relief and wiped some of the sweat on her forehead with her sleeve. She then looked towards Mira and the two children.

Sensing that it was over, Mira put back the talisman in her sleeve as she patted on the shoulders of the two children who let go of her finally, looking at Trista in an unsure way.

"...Don't worry, I won't use it against you, but seeing about how you two recognize what it is, there is no doubt that the two of you are not living beings anymore, huh?"

""..."" The two just looked down further, unable to face Trista, but there was a mix of relief and guilt on their faces. Instead, it was Mira who walked forward and spoke up. "...I take it that it didn't worked after all?"

"...I first thought that it was due to some petty jealousy, but it doesn't look like it is one of the only reasons for why I wasn't allowed in like them…"

"I see…" Mira nodded to herself before glancing at the place where the sword was last placed on the ground. "...And I take that it didn't worked over there either?"

"...It didn't worked either. I will explain more thoroughly after."

"I see…" Mira nodded with a grave expression.

"...Say…" Luigi spoke hesitantly, cutting off the serious conversation between Trista and Mira and drawing their attentions on him. "...Since when did the two of you knew? That both I and Ellen are already… and moreover..."

Mira just averted her gaze and left the duty of answering to Trista, "Simple. Because we aren't much different from you guys…"

"...?! ...I see." Luigi looked down and Ellen quickly went to his side, "But can I ask something else?"

"Go ahead."

"Well if you allow me…" Luigi raised his face carrying a serious expression on it as he stared at Trista for a moment… before it suddenly turned incredulous as he shouted, "Just what on earth you and that Holy Knight in order to set half of the village on fire?!"

"Nice move, boy. I was waiting for someone to point it out but since nobody did it yet, I was about to bring it out, you beat me to it and did for me, my thanks."

"This isn't the time for such a thing?! Just what kind of battle were the two of you having?!"

Trista just rubbed the back of her head, "The kind of battle where she panicked on her own and started to shoot explosion flares at everywhere in hysteria."

"What on earth did you do to her to cause such a thing to happen?!"

"About that… I am also completely at loss here."

"Onii-chan, this isn't time to argue! We have to put out the fire, quickly!"

"Ah, that right, but how should be do?! The well is dry and the river is too far away!"

"It can't be helped, Mira. Talisman, water element, clean that up."

"EH?! I'm the one who have to clean up behind you?!" Mira cried out in shock as Trista suddenly gave her the duty to put out the fire, "And why are you giving me orders like that?!"

"It bring back memories, right? Like when both of us were still in duties a long time ago."

"Yes, it sure does… Wait a second, don't try to change the subject!"

Trista rubbed her forehead with her fingers before giving a tired look to Mira, "You know well that I can't even do such a thing and neither can the children. So the duty is falling on you, please do your best～"

"Even if your voice is becoming more cheerful, there is no meaning if your face is staying the same! Or rather, how can you even match a cheerful voice with a poker face?!" Mira was both astonished and exasperated by Trista's unexpected skill.

"Just start with it already, if we keep on losing time like this, if we continue this conversation then the whole village would be turned to ashes you know?"

"And whose fault do you think—"

"""—Just start already—!"""

"U-Uh… I understand! I just have to do it, right? Geez…" After being scolded by not only Trista but also the two other children, Mira had no choice but to comply at it, feeling slightly ashamed.

She then extended her hands forward and numerous crystal glass shards appeared in the ski, forming a circle around the village before glowing and turning transparent, as if they were reflecting a completely different place than that of the village. The mirrors then switched sense from vertical to horizontal as they covered the places were the fire spread before water started to come out, passing through it, in the shape of rain.

Slowly, the earlier burning fire died down under the rain, leaving only the burnt leftovers traces it on the thankfully empty house buildings and the surrounding trees. Observing that, Trista had only one thing to say. "...So you aren't going to drown things around anymore, huh?"

"Of course not! Why are you even thinking that?!" Mira retorted, being careful to not let her emotions getting in the way of her duty.

"Because you always used to do that in the past."

"...I can't deny that unfortunately." Mira hanged her head down in a depressed manner.

Trista seems to remember well the past, especially the moments where Mira messed up which caused damages akin to natural disasters, an embarrassing event it was for Mira who begged for them to never be brought up again.

Trista then noticed something curious as she raised her eyebrows before asking Trista, "...You aren't using talismans anymore? How curious, even though you always used them in the past… did you improved yourself during these few last years?"

"...W-Well, something like that…" For some reason Mira's answer sounded strangely hesitant, if it was the usual her then she would surely puff her chest and boast about her progress which is a considerable change compared to her past clumsy self, and yet her reaction here was too shy and meek.

Trista considered this as strange but kept the question to herself, if Mira wanted to say something then she wouldn't hesitate to say it to her, if she wasn't then it isn't something Trista has to know yet. She has at least the patience to wait until the right time to talk come.

"...I guess that I can't go to the Capital of the Dead anymore, huh?" Trista murmured so as she looked up to the sky in a pensive manner, slight regret could be heard in her voice, however for what it was for was left unknown. One last thought went through her mind, hopefully Meliodas and the others would be able to handle themselves on their own.

"Trista-chan, when the fire would be put out, I will have something to discuss with you." Mira called out to her but didn't turned around, Trista didn't needed to see her expression right now to understand that she wasn't pleased with the situation, and it wasn't something as light as her usual annoyance towards Trista's antics. So Trista instead just closed her eyes and gave a hums in resignation.

* * *

**"—Hey, can I ask you something?"**

**"...Go ahead."**

**"I don't know what you're trying to do, but… it's something very dangerous, right?"**

**"...Indeed."**

**"It would not only put the others but more than anything yourself in danger too, right?"**

**"...I cannot deny this."**

**"You know it's wrong, right?"**

**"I know, but even so I must still continue."**

**"You're going to hurt a lot of people, and also be hurt a lot yourself."**

**"Taking from others and losing myself is something I'm used to."**

**"Even though you know to what it would lead, why are you keeping on going on this path?"**

**"Because there is no other ways, this is my last and only chance. ...And besides, there is a meaning to this."**

**"A meaning? What kind of?"**

**"...The one of my existence. Even if it's a one-sided promise, I will fulfill it until the end…"**

**"...Even if you may not survive it?"**

**"If it's for that sake, then I don't mind. I will definitely—"**

* * *

"—How weird, where are Triss and Mira?"

A lot of things happened all at once.

First they fought against a Holy Knight who managed to hold her own against two Sins.

Then before they even knew it, Ban and King seemed to have somehow got over their argument with King coming back to their side and helped them to defeat Guila (or rather he did all the job by himself while they watched on the sidelines).

Then they discovered that both Luigi and Ellen were in fact ghosts coming from the Capital of the Dead who came to the world of the livings in order to show them the way to it.

After returning from the Capital of the Dead, for some reason Meliodas couldn't find Trista and Mira anywhere. He expected that Trista would be the only one to support his decision of 'pranking' Guila (by tying her unconscious body to the tree with ropes and drawing on her face) instead of killing her but then once again noticed that she was absent only when he didn't received her answer.

And with everything that happened at once, he completely forgot to ask those siblings why Trista wasn't allowed in the Capital of the Dead.

Thus here he is, wandering through the nearby woods in order to find the two missing members of their group, as they cannot depart to the next place without them.

He through the Boar Hat but the two were nowhere to be found, well Mira who was supposedly in the Boar Hat during all this time, for Trista who was with them before they reached the Capital of the Dead to be nowhere to be found was weird, from Guila's words it seems that she truly didn't meet her on the way. Now it was not only one but the two who were missing.

_'If this continue, sun will set down before I can even manage to find them…'_ Meliodas thought drowsily as he yawned slightly, but then—

"—Seriously, I can't believe you!"

Meliodas widened his eyes at the sound, stopping in his tracks and steps. _'...This voice is… Mira's?'_

"Didn't we told you over and again that it's better to not use it anymore?! Not only the appearance but the functions itselves seems to be completely different from before!"

_'Yup, without doubt it's Mira's voice… but she seems to be quite pissed off right now, huh? I can tell it just by hearing it.'_ Meliodas started to look around him, trying to locate from where the voice came out, but then another one rang through the forest.

"...Since it finally responded to my summon, I thought that this time I may be able to do it, but…"

_'...Wait, Triss?!'_ Meliodas was shocked, even though he recognized the voice it was hard to believe that it was the same Trista he knew.

Compared to the usually impassive and monotone Trista's voice, this time it was more meek and hesitant, he doubted his ears at a moment and was thinking if he should try to clean them but all his attention focused on the conversation and he quickly found where the two where.

Both of them were at the same river where they were doing the laundry earlier this morning, upon seeing them Meliodas squatted down and hide behind a bush, peeking from there about what was going on. He didn't even knew why he was hiding himself right now instead of walking out boldly and announce his presence to them, it wasn't like he was tailing them or anything but the possibility that they weren't going to continue it anymore if they were aware of his presence, it also seemed to be a pretty important talk and one that would talk a lot about Trista that he didn't knew about.

What he saw was a really angry Mira… and Trista who put her hands put in a basin full of water, Mira was also pouring water from a jug into the basin, over Trista's hands. ...Was it him or he could see a bit of steam coming out from the basin when the water poured by Mira hit Trista's hands…?

"You had no proofs that it would actually work like it used to be, so why did you choose to risk it despite that?!"

"...No try, no gain."

"It was still a reckless move! What would you have done if this decision turned back against you?! You had luck that this Holy Knight didn't noticed anything! Just swinging it around took all your strength, and since you were forcing yourself to use it look at what kind of state your hands are in currently!"

"If it's something like that then I can bear it."

"Of course you can't! Beings like us are especially weak when it come to this, even you who has some resistance against it is no exception! Don't push your luck too far! Courage and recklessness are two whole different things!"

Meliodas was sure that he heard Trista said something similar, to think that one day he would hear it being said back to her...

"...I have nothing to answer back, huh?"

_'...Am I dreaming right now?'_ Meliodas pinched his cheek but then felt the pain and returned to reality, the exactly same reality which was present before he pinched his own cheek.

It seems that for a reason or another, Trista and Mira have exchanged their places with Mira now being the one who furiously scold and yells at Trista, and this same latter doing nothing but nodding at her own faults in silence.

...Just what on earth happened here?

Well he could understand if Trista had made angry with her usual antics and Mira reacting at them every time with her teary-eyed annoyance and threw a tantrum in response to that, but now it was on a completely different scale. There was not only anger, but also worry and concern being present. His only guess is that Trista did something really reckless that worried Mira out of her mind which lead to the current situation… however what on earth happened to cause that?

"Anyway, promise me that you will never repeat this same act again! At least have someone knowledgeable check it out before you try to use it again! Definitely, understood?!"

"...I understand, it's a 'promise'."

"...Good... You must definitely keep it."

"Well I at least owe you that much... and promises are something that I always keep."

"You better do." There was no place for jokes anymore, this was the most serious conversation that Meliodas saw between Mira and Trista. Meliodas couldn't help but gulp in nervosity about what was going to follow next, and…

"...Meliodas, your hair is standing out."

...He almost fell out through the bush. With how Trista continue to look in his way, it seems that she has already seen through his hiding. ...And keeping on hiding there and acting as if he wasn't here is useless, so he just resigned himself and stood up from the bush, his hands raised up as if he was a criminal getting arrested.

"My bad, didn't wanted to eavesdrops but I couldn't find the good timing to come out."

...He kinda expected to receive harsh comments from Trista, pointing him all the irregularities in his lies…

"..."

...Yet surprisingly he received none of that?

"It is fine Meliodas-san." The one who answered was Mira instead, "Trista-chan just got some injuries when she tried to put out the fire at the Tala Village and I was scolding her for that."

"Woah, seriously?"

He did saw the horrible state of the Tala Village when he came through, he originally thought that it was that Holy Knight, Guila's doing, with her power of explosion. ...Well he could hardly believe Trista to be a pyromaniac, but so that was how it was, she didn't came because was too busy to put out a fire… It sound both like the truth and a lie, he didn't know which one he should believe and instead decided to stop thinking about it altogether.

"You alright there, Triss?" Now that he noticed it, her gloves sleeves were completely burnt and her clothing too seems to be a little burnt on some places.

Trista just looked down at her hands in the water and answered, "...It's fine, I am cooling down the burns and hopefully it would turn better."

"Which is why I am sorry to ask you this Meliodas-san, but would you be kind enough to bring us back some bandages from the Boar Hat?"

"...Sure, I don't mind." Mira smiled in response of his answer, Meliodas threw one last glance at Trista, the latter was refusing to meet his gaze and then he left, his mind full of the conversation he just overheard earlier.

What to believe or what to not believe… he didn't had enough informations about it to make a decision yet, so he would think of it later like he usually does.

* * *

"...So he overheard us, huh?" Mira watched as Meliodas' back wasn't visible anymore through the woods before speaking back to Trista once again as she poured once again the water in the jog onto Trista's hands.

"Well he definitely isn't suited to be an assassin or a spy."

"At least Meliodas-san didn't heard anything too troublesome."

...Inside the water were ice cubes, and the water inside the basin was cold too, yet when they hit Trista's hands there was some kind of heavy steam that came out from the contact between both with a large 'PSSSSHH' sound, as if the water itself evaporated in contact of the girl's skin. Like how things would react when one threw a small amount of water onto a large fire.

Trista who always had her hands in the water suddenly raised one out of it.

"Ah, wait, we aren't done yet! Hurry up and put it back in it!" Mira near her scolded her and panicked but Trista just calmly shook her head, "I know, let me see it just for a little while."

Trista turned her hand and stared at her open palm, in it there was a sight enough to make one cringe in fear and disgust.

A glowing scar was there, etched on her skin, engraved in her flesh. Red like burning hot lava, like magma in fusion and still warm.

Trista put her hand back in the water and once again, steam came out from the contact between it. And in a really pensive and distant voice, she stared at her own reflection in the water as she uttered to no one in particular. "...Why did you decided to reject me now of all the time? 'Rhon'…" So she called out, the name of the 'weapon' that has always been at her side.

* * *

**A/N.: Mira and Trista have temporarily exchanged their places as the one who scold and the one being scolded, Meliodas being the witness of this can't even believe what he is seeing. Trista's sword and all other mysteries shall be revealed in time and place in the future chapters, I apologize if you find it too unfitting depending of the scene, I hope that the story would still please you despite that. Have a nice day and please review!**

**[REVIEW CORNER]**

_**\- To fantasy.92's review at the previous chapter: **_Thank you for your review, it's been quite a while! I'm happy to hear of you again!

_**\- To merendinoemiliano's review at **__**the previous chapter**__**: **_I'm terribly embarrassed to admit that I inspired myself quite a bit from Date A Live with how Tohka is summoning her Sandalphon by thrusting her heel in the ground. I am sorry about it...

_**\- To Maya Yoan's review at the previous chapter: **_Thank you very much for your double review, it makes me really happy and I am also very glad that the chapters pleased you so far. Even though this fic's genres are supposed to be centered on Drama and Hurt and Comfort, for some reasons I feel that I am distancing myself further from my original goal... Well there is hardly any serious discussion possible when you add Trista's eccentric personality and Mira's clumsiness, but eventually it would come. And as you said, Meliodas does think of Trista as some kind of rare pet, otherwise he would lose his mind by now if he were to treat her as an human XD The one to whom Trista was angry at wouldn't be revealed any soon, and the reasons for why Trista, Mira and the ghost children are "similar" would be revealed later in the story unfortunately, sorry please be patient until then. Because the point of view is sometimes changing from one character to the other it's hard to guess what everyone is thinking globaly, but for the weirdo Trista to have normal reactions is quite a contrast and there would be more of it from now on, please look forward to it! I hope that it won't end up with the readers being disappointed though...


	16. Interlude in Between Arc - I

**A/N.: I'm sincerely sorry for the late update, there were a lot of things IRL that I had to take care of so I didn't had much time to work on this chapter. I hope that it isn't too late... ****I hope that today's chapter won't be too boring to your tastes but please don't expect too much of me too XD**

* * *

The Kingdom of Liones was now overflowing with calm and tranquility. The songs of the birds could be heard and the gentle blow of the wind, carrying the fragrance of various blooming flowers from the greenery spaces could be felt.

Such peace was possible only because the Kingdom was always protected by the Holy Knights, their protectors, from any enemies that would try and harm the peace of their people.

...However, all of that was a façade, a fake peace that would only be believed through the point of view of a stranger who is totally unaware of what was really going on.

In the sky there was a single bird that was hovering in the sky, it flapped its wings quickly and descended in the lower heights before landing and perching itself on the roof of the castle, looking down curiously as it tilted its head on the side.

Its color was unusual indeed, as it was blue as the sky with orange-colored breast, but compared to the other strange, bright and colorful animals present in Britannia, it seemed to be quite ordinary. Still, it was completely matching the cloudless sky so nobody even their gazes upward and it went unnoticed by everyone.

Downward, in the large plaza in front of the castle, all the Holy Knights currently present in the Kingdom were gathered in this same place, covered in their armors from head to toe, listening to the speech of the two Great Holy Knights who succeeded and shared the position after the death of Zaratras, Hendrickson and Dreyfus.

The Great Holy Knight dressed in a red armor raised his arms as he spoke, giving more importance to his already dramatic words.

"Although the captured King had the power to realize that the inevitable Holy War would be soon upon us… in an attempt to avoid the war, he ordered us to lay down our sword… but that was a mistake! We, Holy Knights are the swords that protect this kingdom…! PREPARE FOR THE HOLY WAR! We cannot protect the Kingdom by letting our swords rust away in peace! The future of Liones requires of you, fellow Holy Knights' strength! Gather more men, and put the horses to work! Do not show mercy to them! These are the duties of the citizens who cannot fight and for whose benefit the war is fought to begin with!"

The deep voice reasoned loudly through the plaza, strong enough to make all the Knights listen with their hearts filled with admiration upon their leader's charisma.

Dreyfus then walked towards the stairs before climbing them up, gaining more height and then turned around as he fisted his hand strongly, "I promise you… WE, THE SECOND GREAT HOLY KNIGHTS, WILL LEAD THIS KINGDOM TO THE VICTORY IN THIS HOLY WAR!"

**"WOOOOOOHHHHHH—!"** The crowd was screaming in enthusiasm and agreement to the man's words, their hearts united as one and determination set towards the same goal, honor and pride filling the light in their eyes and the sound of their voices even reasoning deep in the Earth, making it tremble slightly under their feets.

Both Hendrickson and Dreyfus were staring at the reaction of the crowd, each of them having a different expression. Dreyfus seemed to be satisfied that his speech managed to raise the morale of the troops, but Hendrickson just stayed indifferent as he whispered to the man next to him, "...That was quite a flashy speech, Dreyfus."

"Let it be, Hendrickson. The return of the Seven Deadly Sins and the prophecy of a Holy War… I don't know whether these things are coincidences or not, but we must always raise and maintain high troop morale."

Then a soldier approached Dreyfus from the side, "Lord Great Holy Knight, Gilthunder-dono and Howzer-dono have returned from subjugating the Barbarians."

"I see, send them in my room for report." Then the two Great Holy Knights left and all the others dispersed, returning to their previous actions before the gathering started.

The bird stared at everything with its round eyes turning its head around and then after a pause, flew off towards the sky again, soon disappearing and melting into the distance, without even dropping a single of its feather on the ground.

* * *

**INTERLUDE IN BETWEEN ARC - I : _Cruel Rain_**

* * *

After finishing their business in the Capital of the Dead, the group left the Tala Village on Hawk Mama, they moved for a few hours before stopping at the lakeside of a forest in order to rest from the earlier battles and take their time to eat. Even Hawk Mama wasn't buried in the ground today and was laying down with the bar on the top her back.

"Here, Captain, the food is ready～! Say 'ah'～" Diane who was hugging her knees took a fish skewer that was grilling near the small campfire before trying to feed it to Meliodas.

However there was one thing she forgot. The fish she took was originally meant to be feed to her, one fish enough to fit the stomach of a giant… to be more precise, an oversized fish bigger even than Ban's body… it was obvious that it would never fits the mouth of the human-sized Captain.

Which is the reason why Meliodas didn't even tried to take a bite from it, instead looking down while focusing on the ale he is drinking and ignored the large fish head poking his head. "Like I said, there's no way it would fit in my mouth."

King floated upward and looked at the giantess worriedly, "Diane, are you sure that your wounds are okay now?"

"Huh…? Y-Yeah…" Diane flinched a bit as King's words suddenly made her remember.

When King took over the role of fighting Guila and the Sins, Diane who was covered in dirt, laid on the ground and acted as if she was suffering incredibly and faked many pained gasps and begged for his attention, hoping that he would worry about her and care for her. Unfortunately it didn't worked as he didn't even seemed to have heard her, instead focusing on King's victory over Guila. Thus it made her think that he saw through her trick, though she never expected King of all people to take her seriously.

Feeling slightly guilty about him being so sincerely worried about her lies, Diane just averted her gaze away from his and munched at the fish she tried to feed to Meliodas earlier as she answered hesitantly. "I'm okay now."

"Stupid～! I bet she just wanted attention from the Cap'n, so she pretended to be hurt～" Ban sneered, his face flushed from the alcool.

King immediately shot back strongly, "Diane isn't that kind of girl!"

Diane twitched at his words before quickly laying on the empty ground on her side, closing her eyes as she faked sleep to avoid to any words further. "I… I feel sleepy now that I've eaten."

"Hey, you'll become a pig." Hawk added but his words were ignored, after all who would consider such words coming from the pig who was stuffing himself?

"Calm down, you two." Meliodas cut in, King was about to protest but Meliodas beat him to it, "If you guys keep fighting, you'll make Elizabeth nervous."

"M-Meliodas-sama, I don't… I mean…" Elizabeth felt embarrassed that Meliodas pointed this out, indeed she was nervous about Ban and King's interactions even if they didn't seemed as bloodthirsty than before, but it didn't meant that she was scared of them and at least hoped that he didn't misunderstood that.

Upon hearing Elizabeth's voice, King remembered something before he turned flew towards Meliodas, "That's right…! By the way Captain, what is your relationship with her?"

Meliodas immediately answered King's question with a perverted grin on his face as he touched Elizabeth's chest, "We're lovers～?"

"It's wrong!"

He then switched position and put her hand on his chest this time, even opening up the collar of his shirt so she could feel better his skin, "We're touching partners～?"

"Meliodas-sama…?! Wait—"

King sweatdropped at them before he directed his gaze towards something else, "...Then what is your relationship with… that?"

At this question, Meliodas stopped everything he did and his expression turned grim. "...I didn't wanted you to ask me that question, King."

Both of them turned their heads and attentions at… THAT. That, to be more precise, the sleeping form of Trista who was curled in a ball-like shape on the grass.

Yes, THAT who caused so much mental headache to Meliodas on regular basis and THAT who caused so much physical headaches in one day. This same THAT is currently sleeping peacefully as if she isn't even aware of the trouble she causes to others… taking account of her personality, it's surely the truth.

"...Well, let's just say that she's a freeloader."

"I-I see…" King was a bit distraught to find his captain being so tired (so even the Captain who looks like he has infinite energy can look like that, huh?), "Then what about the girl near her?"

"Apparently, it's her friend."

"I-I see…"

Those were no proper answers at all and King wished for proper explanations, especially about the girl who knocked him out with a wooden bucket and smacked him with a spoon but seeing his captain being so unnaturally lifeless with the eyes of a dead fish made him swallow his words back in his throat, he had the feeling that if he were to ask more than this, gloom was going to spread further through his captain so he decided to hold back his questions and give up on asking them.

Meliodas then shifted back his gaze on the sleeping Trista, even though they were making such noises she wasn't waking up at all, it seems that she felt strangely tired today.

His gaze then drifted towards her hands curled in front of her face. The sleeves' white frills and ruffles were no longer here, leaving only a black burned scorched and shorter clothes, it seemed they were burned off and instead, white bandages were wrapping her hands. (It was hard to see since the dress was black to begin with.)

_'Mira said that she burned herself by trying to put off the fire… but Triss isn't that clumsy to hurt herself just by doing that.'_ Meliodas couldn't help but feel doubtful about what Mira told him, and the fact that Trista wasn't agreeing to her words didn't helped, besides the burns on her clothes didn't seemed to be caused by an ordinary fire (though it was hardly visible because both the burn and the color of the dress are quite dark). But Guila herself said that she didn't met Trista before coming to the Capital of the Dead, and she didn't seemed to be lying.

_'...Which makes everything even weirder… Hm?'_ Meliodas noticed that Mira took a fish skewer before bringing it close to Trista's mouth. Trista didn't woke up but sniffed it before she start to nibble on it much to his amazement, her eyes were still closed by the way. It was the perfect yet different representation of a rabbit being feed a carrot stick by his owner.

But more than anything, for Mira who usually scold other on their manners (something he noticed during those few last days) to allow it as if it was natural… She had either spoiling her or had her trained. Well the possibility that she didn't woke Trista up because the latter was exhausted or to not affect the wounds on her hands still work though.

King's gaze happened to cross Elizabeth's, he widened his eyes as he was reminded of his earlier intention before he trailed off and asked Meliodas again and bringing the attention of his captain back to him, "But then who is this girl, Captain? And another answer other than 'lover' or 'mistress' or 'touching partner' please…"

"Geez, you're no fun King!" Despite his words, Meliodas had a smile on his face and Elizabeth blushed deeply at the words King said when he referred to her before looking down, averting anyone's gaze.

"Well she's the princess of a kingdom, the third princess was it…?"

"Right." Elizabeth nodded and send a slight annoyed glare to Meliodas who was enjoying himself of her embarrassment.

King took a second to register properly the information in his mind before his face changed into a shocked expression, "A-A princess?! W-Why didn't you said it earlier, Captain?! If I knew, I would have presented myself better!" It seems that the revelation of Elizabeth's royal status completely astonished him.

"W-Well it's understandable since she was dressed all but like a princess…" Mira nearby commented as she laughed nervously, to say the truth she didn't even knew that Elizabeth was a princess too before the latter introduced herself to her, so she could understand King's shock (even though her perfect manners should have been a giveaway…).

"The hell does that mean, 'presented myself better'～?" A shirtless Ban approached with a mug in his hand, his face flushed due to the alcool as he asked this.

Though he didn't answered him, King started to grits his teeths and groan, a deep frown on his face and sweat starting to pour out on his skin. He looked like he was in deep concentration and made a long 'HNNNGGG…' sound.

Mira raised an eyebrow at this before whispering at Meliodas, "Does he need to go to the bathroom?"

"Ahaha, nope it's not that." Meliodas snickered at Mira's misunderstanding, well with the expression King was making it couldn't be helped that she got it wrong. "Well you'll see soon." For some reason, Meliodas seems to know what was going on.

"Please, King-sama, you don't have to…" Elizabeth was about to stop him, but by then it was already too late…

***POOF!***

There was a brief pinkish puff of smoke that appeared around the Fairy King before he reappeared as a large, fat and more ragged man twice bigger than his original size, wearing a flamboyant royal attire and his appearance befitting for the common example of what commoners thinks of a spoiled noble coming from a royal family.

"PFFFFF—!" Ban spit out all the ale he drank earlier in shock.

"Wow, his clothes changed!" Meliodas said casually while Ban retorted behind him with ale still coming out of his mouth, "THAT'S NOT THE POINT～!"

"H-He grew taller?!" Mira whispered in amazement which got her another retort from Ban, "Well in a way maybe, but that's still not the poiiiint!"

"Noisy…" It was at this time that Trista raised up from her sleeping position into a sitting position, mumbling some incoherent things as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. It seems that the noise really woke her up this time.

She opened one drowsy eye as she trailed off, "What are you…" But once her eyes landed on King, or rather his transformed form, she froze up, pausing and started to stare at him for a while.

At this moment it was as if time stopped, everyone stopped in whatever they were doing in order to see what would happen next.

Trista blinks twice, then rubbed her eyes once again before pinching her cheeks… then she carefully reconsidered the sight in front of her.

_'Nope, Triss. Unfortunately for you, it's not a dream but reality.'_ Meliodas thought as he watched Trista's actions, he could almost hear the rusty imaginary gears starting to turn again in her head.

And then she widened her eyes before slamming her fist into her palm as if she realized something, then she nodded to herself before crawling towards the fireplace, took one branch that was still dry and not burn before she directed her gaze towards King.

She then raised her arm backward, and…!

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you planning to throw something at me again?!" King's alarmed cry broke off the silence, as he raised his arms forward for protection and to block the branch.

Trista blinked again as she lowered her arm and tilted her head in confusion, "...It spoke…?"

"What do you mean by 'it spoke'?! Of course I'm speaking!"

"Come on Triss, doing the same joke one or two times is okay but repeat it for a third time and it won't be funny anymore." Meliodas walked towards Trista and took the branch out of her hand before throwing it into the fire. "Besides I don't know if King can survive another of your throw."

"...King?" Trista raised an eyebrow before looking at King's transformed form again before looking back at Meliodas, the latter nodded as he repeated, "Yup, King."

Her expression then showed understanding and remembrance as she mumbled out in a passive manner. "I see… Now that I think about, he looked like that, huh? So it wasn't an hybrid between a pig and an human…"

"PFFFFF—!" One more time, Ban spit out all his ale, this time it was more out of amusement then out of shock as he soon laughed his heart out, "AHAHA! AN HYBRID BETWEEN A PIG AND A HUMAN, AHAHAHA! *Cough, cough, cough*!" However he laughed too much and started to chokes on himself after.

King was without doubt offended as he shouted with his face red in shame, "Wait, what do you mean by the hybrid between a pig and an human?!" He was quite proud of this human form so it hurt his pride when it was being criticized to such a point.

"Triss…" Meliodas spoke carefully, "Pig and human are two whole different races, so they can't crossbreed."

"Is that what you're concerned about, Captain?!"

"It's important to correct when someone is mistaken, King."

"Sure, it is, but still!"

"Well, Lil' Miss' description isn't wrong either though～"

"Not you too, Ban?!"

"Well Triss is surely still half-asleep so let it slide, okay? See? She start to wake up now."

"Captain, aren't you too leniant to her?!"

"Personally, I think that I'm being pretty harsh towards her. Rather than that, King. Didn't you had something to do? About 'presenting yourself better' or something like that."

"Ah…! That's right!" Upon being reminded of his original intention by Meliodas, King coughed awkwardly before bowing down to Elizabeth, who was quite overwhelmed with the situation. "I am the Grizzly's Sin of Sloth, King, of the Seven Deadly Sins… Pleased to make your acquaintance." King presented himself in a polite and formal manner.

"S-Same here…"

"...He's such a pig." Hawk commented on the side, his face covered with scraps while Trista retorted on the side, "And so are you… and also Meliodas get out of Elizabeth's skirt, you're really ruining the mood."

Not only his appearance but also his voice was now deep like a suffocating old man, the fact that he jerked his head forward a bit too close of Elizabeth's personal space didn't helped either. "I didn't knew that you were a princess, please forgive the rudeness of my conduct at the Capital of the Dead!"

("Well of course he wouldn't know, her current appearance looks all than a princess."

"Thank you for voicing out other people's thoughts so openly, Trista-chan."

"Huh?")

"You… you don't have to…" Even though it was creeping her out and made her uncomfortable, Elizabeth tried her best to reassure him, "More importantly, please don't be so nervous and feel free to relax yourself."

"I-I see… If that's the case…" Though reluctant, King decided to accept Elizabeth's demand as he stood back before another 'POOF' of smoke appeared around him as he now returned back to his previous form, now exhausted and falling back onto his Chastiefol's pillow form that was floating against his back with a sigh. "Phew! Since it's been a while I did that, my shoulders are all stiff…"

"Oh! His clothing changed back!" Meliodas noted.

Ban retorted once again, "Like I said, that's not the point!"

Trista soon followed, replacing Mira's earlier role. "...So he got thinner again?"

Ban's retort round 2, "Yeah, close enough but it isn't what I meant too!"

"But King-sama, you really are powerful." Elizabeth praised with admiration King who was now floating upward and hugging his pillow, "You defeated an enemy who three people were struggling to fight, all by yourself."

"It's true that I'm strong. But that Holy Knight should have been easy to handle had you used your powers the way you used to…" For some reason when King said that, Meliodas started to whistle, Diane averted her gaze awkwardly, and Ban… just kept on drinking. Not noticing this, King asked the question that was on his mind since the beginning, "You three… what happened to your Sacred Treasures?"

"Lost it～" Diane stuck her tongue playfully with a wink.

"Sold it～" Meliodas grinned as he made a 'money' hand gesture.

"It was stolen～" Ban sing-sang drunkenly.

"...!" A pig-like cry was heard from King and he immediately (and unconsciously) changed back to his fatter form in shock as an astonished expression was on his face, "Unbelievable!"

"...So he didn't noticed it, huh?"

"It's a bit disappointing to see that Triss didn't reacted to this, could it be that you knew it from the start?"

"Well I don't know for Diane but Ban was imprisoned so it was obvious that his belongings would be taken away out of his reach, and knowing you, you would have probably exchanged it for alcohol, right?"

"Oh～ As expected of Triss, you know me so well."

"This isn't something you should be happy about, Captain!"

* * *

Time passed since the previous discussion and now it the sky has turned orange with the sun starting to set at the horizon and King have considerably calmed down from his earlier shock (it sure took him a lot of time though) and Ban has fallen asleep in a drunken manner, hugging a barrel of ale as a pillow. King even gave an explanation about what Sacred Treasures are and the power they give to the Sins due to Hawk's ask, and eventually the conversation drifted to...

"The New Generation, what's that?" Meliodas asked.

"Apparently some of the Holy Knights apprentices suddenly obtained powers similar to a Holy Knight in just one night. ...For example, Guila. If I told you that just a day before, she was a lower rank, run-of-the-mill Holy Knight apprentice with barely any power… would you believe me?"

"...!" Since they didn't had as much informations as King did, they originally thought that she was a Holy Knight quite talented for her age, but it was hard to believe that she managed to hold her own against three of the Sins and almost won and that she just gained such a strength overnight.

"Triss, do you know about it?"

"...I would like to say yes, but unfortunately no. There is a talented mage that always stays in Britannia, too suspicious move wouldn't go unnoticed."

"Heh… So there are even things you can't do?"

"...Meliodas, I have been wondering for a while, but seriously. What do you think I am?" Trista sighed before putting a hand to her head. "...Though it's true that if you guys properly held on onto your Sacred Treasures, everything would be more simple though."

"Right? Sacred Treasures are amazing, right?" Meliodas grinned, a mug in hand as Trista glared at him, "Then don't sell it!"

"She's right! Why did you idiots let go of them?! Pugo, pugo!" Hawk exclaimed angrily, shaking the still laughing blond with his hands(?) and standing on his feets(?).

King let go of his Chastiefol and floated down on the ground with a resigned expression, "Well, there's no point to talk about something you've lost. But we have to look look for the Sacred Treasures along with the other members. If we're truly planning to save the kingdom."

"Anyway… What's going on with the kingdom right now? Why did the Holy Knights state a coup d'état all of the sudden?"

"..." Trista stayed strangely silent, a deep frown on her face while King shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know for sure either… but… I do know that something strange is happening to the Holy Knights. Instead of protecting the people, they look like they're focusing on preparing for war. And the castle itself is one extreme high-alert as well."

At those words, Elizabeth reacted as she stood up and asked King, "Um… King-sama! You were interacting with the people in the castle, right?"

"Well, yes…"

"Then my father and my sisters… do you know anything about the king and the other princesses?!"

Upon seeing her frantic worried expression when she was asking for the safety of her family, King turned quite apologetic as he awkwardly rubbed his head, "Uh… I'm sorry… I wasn't there in person…"

"I… see…" Elizabeth lowered her hand in disappointment, such action didn't escaped Meliodas' and Trista's eyes.

"...Well, then!" Trista suddenly stood up and brushed her long skirt with some holes, burns and ragged before stretching herself upward.

"What are you doing, Triss?" Meliodas looked at her curiously, and so did everyone else.

"Isn't it obvious? I will start to do some preparations."

"For what?"

"Are you stupid? The only member of the Seven Deadly Sin that was allied to them now betrayed them and joined our ranks, even the Kingdom won't stay quiet about it. Taking account of our past experiences, I soon expect them to try a kidnapping or for them to send more talented Holy Knights after us."

"Mmmm… Shouldn't it be fine if we fought them like we always did?"

"Aren't you getting a little bit too cocky?"

"Am I?"

"You definitely are."

"Well… sorry to shake off your good intentions but we, Sins, deal more at the moment then planning things ahead."

"...Well do as you like, but don't push your luck too far and then come to regret your actions later on."

"'Kay, 'kay～" But what kind of preparations is she planning to do? Meliodas couldn't help but wonder so as he sipped his ale.

"Which is why, I'm going back to the Boar Hat first. It's soon nighttime so I guess we're camping here tonight. Don't return to late either."

"Yes, yes～" Meliodas waved at her in a half-hearted manner as Trista started to walk away towards Hawk Mama.

Mira immediately stood up as she bowed towards the others, "I'm going to accompany her! Good night everyone!" After receiving a few responses, Mira chased after Trista. Then soon after...

"...Ah by the way, King, you're sharing a room with Ban from today."

"WHY?!"

"Because Triss don't want to anymore, don't know why though."

"Why was she even sharing a room together with him?!"

"Because it was the only place where it was free… and now it's the only place where you can sleep."

"NO WAY—?!"

...Even though they recognized it, both Trista and Mira didn't even bothered turned around as they heard the various cries behind them and each of them had their own reactions, Mira had a wry smile and Trista just gave another sigh.

"..." But then Trista suddenly topped in her tracks and turned around, as if she was reminded of something.

Seeing her pause, Mira also stopped before sending a curious look towards Trista. "...Trista-chan?"

However Trista didn't answered her and instead turned herself to the opposite direction, facing Meliodas and the others who seemed to be having fun with into teasing a pitiful-looking King as she called out to them, "Meliodas!"

Surprised by the unexpected loud voice she used to call him, Meliodas looked at Trista curiously before realizing that she did so because there were already a few meters between them thus making it hard to hear if she were to speak with the volume she usually used.

So in response to that he answered her in the same manner, "What's wrong, Triss?! Did you forgot something?!"

"Yeah! Something's quite important!"

"I wonder what it is?"

"Who knows…?"

"Zzzz…"

Elizabeth and King looked at each other in confusion as Ban just snored in the background with a large smile on his sleeping face.

Meliodas asked again, "What is it?!"

"It's about Liones Kingdom! I don't know yet how the Holy Knights apprentices are suddenly powered up, but I have a vague information on what they are trying to do! They are trying to start a Holy War!"

"...?!" Meliodas' composure was lost for a second, his eyes were wide open and all trace of his usual cheerfulness was gone from his face. It was as if he wasn't seeing the world around him anymore but something completely different instead.

Whether she noticed that or not, Trista continued, "What about it?! Does that ring a bell?!"

"..."

"Holy… War…?" Elizabeth tilted her head curiously on the side as she repeated Trista's words, unable to understand them.

King pondered about it, "The Holy War? That famous legendary war of 3,000 years ago with all the races? ...I heard of it though I only thought of it as an urban legend but… Captain, do you perhaps know something about it?"

"..."

When King lowered himself to peek at Meliodas' face, he didn't said anything at the beginning. Maybe he was trying to search the answer in his memories? So King thought about leaving his captain more time to answer, but…

"...Nishishi～! Well, I wonder?" He suddenly grinned like he usually did.

"..."

"What? So Captain didn't knew about it either? If it was the case then don't pretend to know and just say the truth, geez..."

"Nishishi!" Meliodas laughed and then looked at Trista. Though it wasn't seen by the others, it was really faint to be noticeable, but Trista saw it. Definitely, it was there, a warning look.

She then spinned on her heel again again and continued her road towards the Boar Hat. "We're going, Mira."

"O-Okay?" Mira send a worried look between Trista and Meliodas before following the girl from a close distance.

* * *

"So in the end, Trista-chan is going to take back place in the attic, huh…?"

"Well if you don't want to share then you can always go down to the kitchen. Well you will be sharing with Piglet though."

"...It's not like there was much places in here to begin with…" Mira looked around her, the attic was the same as always, thus quite filled and had hardly any place.

"So what will you do?" Trista was staring at her, waiting for her response.

Mira pondered about it for a while before giving a smile, "I'll stay here too. I'll feel bad if I left you here all alone."

"...? Even though I've been using this place all alone since the beginning?"

"No, no, no. This isn't what I meant…" Looking at Trista who just looked back at her curiously, Mira ended up giving a sigh, confusing further the doll-like girl in front of her. No matter how she looked at it, the other party didn't understood her intention of just not wanting her to be lonely and even if she were to explain it to her, somehow it feel like it still wouldn't connect.

Trista then walked towards the balcony of the attic before opening its door, giving a good view of the night sky outside, the night breeze was coming inside and Mira shivered when she felt it coming in contact with her skin, despite the kimono that covered the majority of her body.

"Hey, why did you opened it so suddenly? Hurry up and close it, bugs are going to come inside…"

"Just a little bit more, it's almost here."

"Huh? Of what are you talking about?" It was then that Mira heard the sound of flapping wings heading closer to them. So she headed closer to the balcony too, staying behind Trista in order to see what it was. She widened her eyes upon seeing a bird flying towards them with the experience and speed unbefitting for its appearance.

It wasn't surprising to see an bird close to the forest and during nighttime, but for some reason it was heading straight to them and it flew rather quickly in a way that was unthinkable with its small size.

The bird then perched itself on the rail of the balcony, raised its wings open and then stood here, unmoving. Mira stared at it with wide eyes, speechless. It certainly wasn't weird despite the mix of sky blue and bright orange color, especially if one were to compare it to the other strange animals present in Britannia which Mira witnessed up until recently, but for some reason there was something she couldn't place about it… and it seemed strangely friendly towards people unlike the wild animals out there.

Trista too was staring at it in silence before raising an eyebrow at its action and then tilted her head on the side, her action speaking the question she wanted to ask, it was obvious enough even for Mira who hardly understood what this girl was thinking about, because she was currently thinking at the same thing too.

_'What on earth is this bird doing?'_ Or rather, what on earth it wanted to do? Why didn't it wanted to close its wings?

The bird then flapped its wings in what seems to be impatience before tilting its head on the side, reproducing Trista's actions from just a while ago, and then raising its wings upward again as if it was waiting for her.

Mira then turned her head towards Trista, waiting for her reaction.

The girl just stared at the bird again, another silence was between them before Trista's eyes widened, it seems that she just realized something. She then opened her arms up in a slightly hesitating manner, still unsure of her actions.

The bird openly brightened up at that and chipped in delight before flying up to her, landing in her hands in a visibly satisfied manner.

Mira watched this quite impossible scene speechless, as if the bird just asked Trista to hug it. Trista then turned to her and opened her lips to speak, "...So, what was this all about?"

"Why are you asking me that question?! I should be the one asking that!" Mira unintentionally retorted, she felt like sighing once she realized that her reactions towards Trista's antics were more like physical reflexes now.

Trista nodded to Mira's words before giving her a serious look, "...So to whom do you intend to ask this to?"

"To you of course?! Who is there other than you and I?!"

"..." Trista then took a careful look around her and walked back inside the attic before opening the door of the room and taking a peek in the corridors—

"Don't check! It was a rhetorical question!" In one breath, Mira pulled the door closed before putting a hand at the throbbing pain in her temple.

"Are you alright? I don't know if we have medicine for headache… or rather, can the people of your kin even get sick?"

"I'm not sick!"

"Then it must be because you closed the door too loud."

"Whose fault do you think it is?!"

"Yours of course, you are the one who closed the door."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean? Also, you says 'Whose fault do you think it is' quite often right? Could it be that you also have memory problems…"

"...!" Mira put both her hands against the wall, with the intention of smashing her head against it repeatedly in order to vent out some frustration, but…

"Ah, and if you are planning to hit the wall please refrain yourself from doing it. It's already late and the others are probably asleep."

...This girl who couldn't read the mood stopped her right before she could so. Instead she decided to fist her hand and then bite her lower lip while trembling and enduring the frustration build up inside her.

So she took a few deep breaths in order to calm herself down, since she had been acquainted with this girl years ago, she finally learned the importance of meditation. About how it was useful to use a pure spirit and a pure body in order to preserve a pure soul… yes, a pure state of mind completely devoid of any murderous intentions birthed from an unnecessary source of annoyance, worry and frustration.

...Thankfully Trista didn't said anything, she stayed silent and thanks to this, Mira's frustration wasn't revived. Now feeling all cool, Mira turned back to Trista and looked at the bird who unlike the girl who was holding it, seemed to be quite shaken by her earlier outburst as it started to chirp in panic when she set on her eyes on him.

"Waah, I'm sorry! I didn't wanted to scare you or anything!" Mira said as she raised her hands with the intention to show that she meant no harm. Only when she finished to say those words that she noticed about how she tried to communicate with a bird, can bird even understand human language? As she was wondering that…

"..." The bird nodded its head once as if it was acknbirdedging her words.

Mira was once again speechless, her expression was between astonishment and adoration, astonishment that the bird could understand human language and adoration because of how adorable the bird acted.

To say the truth, she just wanted to rush to it and then hug it while squealing to her heart's content but the flat stare that Trista gave her along with the slightly frightened gaze that the bird gave to her made her realize that her hands were moving like a murderer ready to strangle his victim.

So, she took a step back, another deep breath and gave a cough in order to recompose herself but not before sending an envious look towards Trista but it then turned into a smile, "Trista-chan, is that your bird? I didn't knew that you owned one."

"Ah… Well it was after I left so…"

"Fufu, I see! Of what breed is it?" She knew it was an bird but she wasn't knbirdedgeable on its exact specie, since Trista seems to be its owner, she must surely know about it.

"I don't know, it was only made recently after all."

"...Huh?" At this moment, Mira felt there was something strange about Trista's words and her smile fell before confusion took part in her mind, "...What do you mean by, it was made recently?" Shouldn't she said that it was born recently?

"Well, I said that it was made recently but it's not that recent though, actually I don't remember well the date when I worked on them, it's kind of blurry for me so…"

...For some reason, the words aren't connecting. And this worried Mira.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Well explaining everything to you would be too complicated so maybe having you to see it directly would be better. Here you go." Trista then poked the bird's forehead before it stood still and didn't moved anymore, the light having disappeared from its round eyes.

Trista then hand over the bird to Mira who received it in her own hands. The bird was no longer moving, completely immobile as it fell on its right side in her hands, completely unresponsive. As if all life that was in it suddenly disappeared, as if it was a corpse. Mira then caressed softly the bird's body, trying to search for the reason of why the earlier energic bird suddenly lost all its vitality.

"...?!"

And then she felt a strange reaction from it, it was something different yet familiar… Once realization and recognition struck her mind, her hands that were holding the bird started to tremble. Then as if to confirm her suspicions, she pressed the body of the bird harder this time, feeling a strange sensation coming from it that was unfit from its appearance.

And then light started to shine from within her hands and the appearance of the bird turned into something that she didn't expected.

"...It seems that you realized it, huh? As expected of Mira, you sure are skilled, or is it me who is not skilled enough? I don't know… Though taken account of your status, I thought that you would notice it immediately." Trista's praises seemed to be a mix of admiration and disappointment, she was contradicting herself which make it hard to understand if it was genuine or not, praising someone only to point out their bad points just after was an habit of Trista, a rather bad one and one that she didn't seemed to have noticed herself.

However it was the truth that Trista did acknbirdedged Mira, wherever the latter was aware of this truth or not was unknown to her though. ...Yet it seemed that Mira was too shocked by what she saw in this 'tiny bird' to even react properly to Trista's words.

"...T-This is…"

"Yup, this is what the majority of people with high pride would call an 'heresy'." Trista answered as if it was no big deal as she took the 'bird' back from Mira's hands and flicked on its 'body'.

Another light shone and as if this action suddenly woke the bird up, returning to its previous appearance as it blinks its eyes before flying around the room with the energy it had earlier.

"See?"

"...Trista-chan… you…" Mira seemed to struggle to say something but her whisper went unheard as Trista started to walking the room in circle as she continued to speak, "Do you remember when I said to Meliodas that overconfidence can be dangerous? Actually this can also be used to our gains. I managed to confirm it by sending this little one to Liones."

"...?!"

"If your question is, 'since when' then probably when you weren't looking and was busy to put out the fire at the Tala Village. Do you also remember when I said that there was a talented mage at Liones? I send this child one to Liones and made it return just after, that alone should have been a give-away and yet, there was nothing, not even a barrier protecting Liones, nor anything watching out for them. Truly, what a waste…"

"..."

"Though I admit it was a little risky, we cannot gain anything if we don't try anything, besides I did have a few countermeasures just in case if it was found. But now I'm sure of it, their sides are completely looking down on us too, if used carefully this can benefit us. Unfortunately, we don't have enough informations to conclude things with, and we can't take advantage of this yet and attacking at nighttime wouldn't give us victory…"

...This cold and calculating expression wasn't the one she wanted to see.

"—Trista-chan…"

"Mm?"

"...Are you sure that it's fine to tell me all of this?" Mira asked cautiously.

Trista pondered for a while before nodding, "Sure. If I may say it to someone, it may as well be you."

In normal times, such a trust would make Mira tear up of happiness, and yet she couldn't even manage to smile nor to rejoice of it currently. Mira looked down, averting from Trista's straight gaze which seemed to be too painful and bright for her to look at as she muttered hesitantly, "...Shouldn't it be Meliodas-san and the others? I mean, you can hold a strategy meeting with them, and…"

"It wouldn't work. Meliodas said so himself, they aren't the type of people who would prepare in advance. And you saw how Meliodas glared at me? There is no doubt that the topic I brought up wasn't something he wanted to share with others, no matter how much desperate he is."

What she did earlier was a test and he failed, or rather, he didn't even tried.

"..."

"Besides you know well that my way of doing things isn't nice like theirs, right? If they ever knew it, they definitely wouldn't accept it, they definitely wouldn't forgive me."

"..."

"Mira, you're one of the people who know me the longest so you can understand my perceptive, right? That I can't fight the way they do, and because of that I have to use other ungraceful methods to make up for it..."

"..."

Trista then turned around and saw her expression before she send her a puzzled look, "...Huh? Mira? What's wrong? Why are you making such a sad face? Why are you crying? Come on, don't cry. I may not look like it, but I'm not unhappy right now, you know?"

"...!" ...She didn't realized that tears started to fall from her eyes or since when they did, but she felt and understood that they wouldn't stop anytime soon. The girl in front of her was puzzled over her sudden tears and didn't knew how to deal with it thus looked pretty awkward, that side of her didn't changed.

_'She isn't noticing it herself… and moreover, we are the ones who unknowingly pushed her on this path…'_

Guilt, sorrow and sadness were storming together inside her, the memories that haunted her the most and she tried to keep repressed all this time was surfacing back now, and now she could finally understand the despair that**_ that person_** felt before it lead him to his downfall.

The worst is that this child still didn't knew of the truth about it… Should she keep it to herself after all? It would be fine if she never learn it too, yes, maybe it was better this way… however…

_'Professor… I, after all…'_

She didn't knew which one was the correct choice, but at that time, Mira already made up her mind.

The bird just stood there, unmoving, but staring carefully at the scene that was playing itself in front of him._...Yes, Trista did said that she wasn't 'unhappy',** but never once did she said that she was 'happy'.**_

* * *

"Yo, Triss. We're stopping at a small town named Biron, famous for its ceramics. There would be surely a lot of people at the market so we'll gather informations there. Elizabeth also said that we may as well go buy something else to wear, you don't want to keep on staying in these half burnt clothes, right?"

"..."

The next morning, Meliodas greeted her with a grin as he walked in the shop, apparently coming back from a discussion with King on Hawk Mama's forehead, a map in his hand. The glare full of warning that he sent to her yesterday evening was now nowhere to be seen.

Trista narrowed her eyes at him. The two of them were actually alone in the hall of the bar, here and now. If he wanted to confront her about yesterday there was no best moment. Yet he wasn't even trying anything, and she could tell that even though he looked calm on the surface, the single name of the war she mentioned clearly bothered him, yet he was trying to ignore it and push it aside.

_'...Coward…'_ She thought as her frown deepened before she cast away these unpleasant thoughts. If this was what he wanted to then she had no right to change it.

"There is no need for so actually, though I wish to get out of this dress as quickly as possible it isn't something that can be accomplished yet. Besides they can still be used."

"Hmph… I see, but don't come to complain about it later on, okay? We don't know when we would be in town next time too."

"It's fine, when that time come I'll do with what I have."

"I see. So does that mean that you're not coming with us?"

"Well as expected, walking around in burnt clothing is a bit…"

"If so then why do you refuse so much to go buy new ones?"

"...Clothes shop are no good either." Trista said so as she slightly avoided his gaze and looked downward.

Meliodas observed that reaction with great interest before he asked, "...Triss, is it me or you're strangely pale?"

"It's your imagination."

"But—"

"It's, your, imagination."

"...Okay, okay, okay, I got it, so don't glare at me like that." It was Trista's habit to say words by words when she doesn't want to discuss about the topic anymore, he noticed (besides there was also an intimidating air coming from her).

Though Meliodas said that, there was definitely a glint in his eyes, one that said that he just discovered something quite interesting that he didn't wished to miss.

...Unfortunately, Trista also realized that this was something she couldn't escape from, hopefully he would have forgotten it a little later.

Though avoiding the clothes shop was one of her main reason, it wasn't the only one. Like she said earlier, despite his calm façade Meliodas was still shaken by what she said yesterday evening, so she thought that it would be better if the two takes distance from each other until he calms down completely.

And besides…

"…Yesterday, it seems that I have angered Mira yesterday, so I should at least wait for her and apologize."

"What? You two got into a fight?"

"I don't really know either, but she ended up crying."

"To that point? Triss, seriously what did you said to her?"

"I already said that I don't understand either…" Trista really looked troubled and confused about it, it seemed that it happened yesterday night at the attic so nobody overheard them, well since Meliodas wasn't present during that moment he couldn't know what happened but he was pretty sure that it was Trista's usual sharp words that hit Mira in a sensible spot.

Still their small arguments occurred often but never last long and taking account of Trista's current troubled reaction in contrast of her usually indifferent one, it seemed that it was serious this time.

But then a smile grew on his face and he had to hold back the urge to snort.

"…You, what with that face?" Trista was staring at him, unpleased, well of course she would. For her to be worried after a fight with a friend while the usual her would just not care about it…

Meliodas then stood up from his seat in front of her before giving her a slight wave, "Well if that's so then I'm going in town, Elizabeth and King are waiting for me outside, be sure to make up with Mira before we come back, okay Triss?" And after saying that, Meliodas left, clacking the door behind him before Trista could say anything back.

Trista was just sitting there, completely dumbfounded as she stared at the now closed door where Meliodas just left through, everything happened too quickly and she didn't had registered all the informations in her head yet. It was strange, after all she was usually the one who left others speechless and yet she was now on the receiving end.

"...But still… is that me or his mood suddenly turned better?" She put a hand on her chin deep in thoughts. Even though the mood around him was somewhat forced earlier, it suddenly became more natural and light, even she who could recognize his emotions by some extend couldn't understand what caused such a sudden change and also the reason for it.

_'...It couldn't be that he was happy over grasping one of my weaknesses?'_ Trista paled at the thought before shaking her head, her expression changing and looking down. Instead of this, she should focuses on the current matter just like Meliodas said.

_'As expected… is Mira still in bad mood because of yesterday?'_ Trista remembered when Mira suddenly started to cry on her, once again for reasons that she couldn't understand. Did her words hurted her that much?

...Well it wasn't often that they argued but this time there was hardly any arguments, the usual energy that was in Mira's retorts were literally nonexistent. It wasn't the usual crying out of annoyance, anger or desperation but there was no doubt that she was genuinely sad during the moment tears were rolling on her cheeks.

Trista didn't understood how and why while Mira herself refused to say anything and just kept on sobbing, but there was no doubt this time that she was the cause, even her can understand this much. Dealing and comforting with crying people is one of the worst thing she is at, but apologizing sincerely here without adding anything unnecessary was the least she could do now.

_'Could it be that she's angry because I misused their teachings?'_ Trista's thoughts went back to the blue bird she showed to Mira yesterday, taking account of her reaction, it seems that Mira has realized how the bird was partially constituted, maybe this was also one of the reason she was so sullen?

"...I was wondering where you were but to think that you just came down first."

"...!" Trista looked up to see Mira, standing on the stairs and slowly descending them.

"Mira, about yesterday—" She was about to open her mouth and speak in order to apologize but then she noticed something strange and cuts herself off.

The air around Mira was completely different, compared to her usual clumsy yet cheerful self, the current her was mature, collected and strangely dignified. Trista had already witnessed Mira's serious expression previously, but this was the first time that she seemed so much like… someone else, someone familiar, someone who is acquainted with both of them.

"—Mira—"

"Then this is the perfect opportunity." Mira reached same floor as Trista as she walked towards her, her voice unnaturally deep and neutra, imposing an unshakable authority. She cuts Trista off without hesitation, if it was usually then Trista would voice her protests for being interrupted so suddenly, but even she couldn't help but stay silent here.

"Let us talk, '**_Lilliel'_**. There is something important that I must inform you about."

...Outside the sound of the rain started to spread through the building, hiding away all noise, words and discussion which was happening inside.

* * *

A few hours later, Elizabeth and Meliodas were walking through the dark road at a large distance away from the Biron Town, hand in hand. It was already nighttime but there were still the few leftovers marks and smoke that the fireworks of earlier (probably from some kind of festival nearby) left in the night sky.

"—But it sure has gotten late, didn't it? Sorry for taking so much time to come to your rescue, Elizabeth."

"No, it's fine! Or rather, I am the one who should apologize. Even though I promised to stay at the tower and wait for you, I ended up revealing myself and got captured."

When Meliodas, King and Elizabeth arrived in town earlier, they attracted quite a bit of commotion. Of course they were wanted people but Meliodas and King's wanted posters looked nothing like their real appearances were (well King's 'human' appearance was spot on though), however what they didn't expected is that they even added an wanted poster with Elizabeth's face on it. And unlike them who were absent for 10 years and had their wanted posters renewed every time, Elizabeth was still at the Kingdom not even a few weeks ago, so her picture was quite accurate and thus making her really recognizable, the fact that she wasn't wearing anything to cover her face strengthened that fact.

Learning that she had been treated like a criminal by her Kingdom left her quite shaken, so both Meliodas and King had reluctantly agreed to go gather informations while Elizabeth stay hidden with Hawk at the top of a tower and wait for them to come back.

However things weren't pretty as a few villagers who already caught sight of her, informed a Holy Knight about her presence, but was threatened because he lost sight of her and couldn't reveal her location anymore. This lured Elizabeth to reveal herself in order to spare the villagers from being harmed as punishment but instead got found and captured by her sister, Veronica and her bodyguard, Griamore. It was no long after that Meliodas and King came to her rescue though.

"I already said that it was alright. The most important is that you're not hurt."

"...!" Upon hearing Meliodas' words and feeling the tight grip of their joined hands, Elizabeth's cheeks flushed slightly and her heart skipped a few beats. All she hoped is that her hand that was holding Meliodas' didn't felt too sweaty.

Wherever he was aware of her nervousness or not, Meliodas still spoke, "How about you cheer up Hawk a bit? He was quite worried when you suddenly disappeared, you know?"

"Yes…" She remembered about how Hawk comforted her and stuck to her so she wouldn't be cold and was really worried for her when she came out to confront Griamore. And from Meliodas' words, it seemed that he also cried of regret for not being able to stop her from being taken away.

"...I did something bad to Hawk-chan."

"Don't worry, but I don't think that Hawk would be angry at you, just worried. However instead of him, there might be someone else would may be angry."

"Huh?" Elizabeth tilted her head at Meliodas' words and at the sour expression on his face. "What do you mean by this, Meliodas-sama?"

"I'm talking about that nasty doll-like girl who never miss the opportunity to nags at someone."

"Ah…" It was easy to recognize of who he was talking about, after all among them there was only one who fits such a perfect description, both physically and mentally.

"'Elizabeth got kidnapped while you were around? How on earth can such a thing even happen? I know that you were inactive during 10 years but to think that your skills dropped to such an extend, it's truly disappointing'... is what I feel she may say."

"But… I don't think that Trista-san would say it to such an extend…" Even though she said it for the sake of comforting him, Meliodas paused at her words before thinking for a while and smiling back to her, "You're right! Triss' words would much, much more sharp than something like this!"

"I-I didn't mean it this way!"

"Hoho～? Are you really sure about it～?" Elizabeth was flustered over how her words were misunderstood and Meliodas teased her for it.

"Y-Yes, I am!"

"I wonder about it～? You stuttering doesn't help at all."

"Geez, Meliodas-sama!" Elizabeth pouted slightly at his small bullying while Meliodas also puffed his cheeks in order to match Elizabeth.

"..."

"..."

There was then a slight silence between the two where they just stared at each other, and…

"...Pff!"

"Ahaha～!" They ended up laughing at each other's expression.

Elizabeth would originally thought of her own attitude as rude, chastise herself for it before giving a heartfelt apology towards Meliodas (because he was the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins and laughing at him like that was quite impolite of her), but probably because of she felt so much stress and pressure at once (wanted poster, kidnapping, reunion with her sister) and that it was suddenly lifted from her shoulders at once (when she was rescued), she didn't cared much about it now.

"But if she ever say that, I can't refute anything back this time, huh…"

"I think that even Trista-san would understand this time…"

"Elizabeth is sure lenient with Triss, huh?"

"Fufufu, that is not the case. ...By the way Meliodas-sama, I have something that I would like to ask you…"

"Unfortunately, I'm not a woman so I can't give you my three sizes."

"I-It's not about that!"

"Nishishi!"

_'Geez…'_ Elizabeth couldn't hide the growing smile on her face but it soon turned into an expression of concern, "...Did you had a fight with Trista-san?"

"..." Meliodas' smile fell as his eyes widened and looked at Elizabeth with a completely astonished expression on his face. This pause didn't even lasted 5 seconds as he returned to his usual expression, "What do you mean?"

Though Meliodas' smiles were something that Elizabeth really likes to see, she couldn't help but think that she didn't wanted him to smile and just shrug it away like he always does.

"I mean… for some reason, there seemed to be a tense mood between the two of you yesterday evening…"

Meliodas widened his eyes further, it seemed that she said something that he didn't expected to hear, "...Did it seemed that way?"

"Yes…" Though she didn't said anything about it until now, Elizabeth noticed a silent exchange between Meliodas and Trista, though she didn't understood the content, it didn't seemed to be something aimable.

Meliodas then ruffled his hair as he sighed in a troubled manner, it was rare for him to do so, being incredibly patient to the antics of his comrades who are all out of ordinary, yet only a single girl was able to tire him out so quickly with just a few words exchanged.

"...It's not like that." He mumbled out as if he was sulking, the action was strangely childish, unlike the usual idiocies he was making and Elizabeth felt an incredible envy to go poke his cheeks with her fingers here and now, but somehow she managed to hold this desire back.

"...But it seems that before we knew it, Meliodas-sama and Trista-san managed to make up so I'm relieved. After all when you came out from the Boar Hat when King-sama and I were waiting for you, you seemed to be more relaxed."

"..." Meliodas then gave her a smile that seemed between resignation and something else where she can't put the finger on, but somehow she felt that the hand that was joined with hers became warmer.

"...Well, I found out that despite being so 'extra-ordinary', even Triss can sometimes be 'ordinary'."

"...?" Elizabeth couldn't understand his words, but for some reason Meliodas seemed to be strangely please.

Meliodas grinned at her confusion before tugging at her hand forward, "Let's go back, everyone is surely shaking with worry by now."

"Ah, yes!"

And so the two walked towards the Boar Hat, however when Meliodas was about to put a hand on the doorknob of the front door.

**…!**

The door pushed itself open from the inside. Both Meliodas and Elizabeth looked to see Trista being the one who did the action.

"Yo, Triss. You came to open the door for us? Is that out of kindness or just because you want to chew me out?" Meliodas asked in his usual teasing tone, but…

"..." Trista didn't even answered as she just walked past him and Elizabeth and just kept on walking forward.

"T-Trista-san?! Where are you going? It's already the middle of the night!" Elizabeth called out to her in a worried manner, but there was no sign of Trista hearing Elizabeth's words, she didn't even reacted physically and just kept walking forward.

"M-Meliodas-sama, Trista-san is…" Elizabeth turned out to Meliodas in slight panic as it was the first time that she ever received such a unresponsive response from Trista, but then she froze upon seeing Meliodas' expression, "Meliodas-sama…?" She called out to him hesitantly.

Meliodas then turned around and looked at the direction where Trista walked away, her clothes already melting in the night and making her unrecognizable. "...What's going on…?" He wondered to himself, a deep frown on his face.

_Just before she passed across him, Meliodas managed to get a glimpse of Trista's expression… **and never once he had seen such a look in her eyes.**_

* * *

**A/N.: And there, CLIFFHANGER! What on earth Mira and Trista's discussion was about? What on earth caused Trista to have such an expression that even shocked Meliodas to the core?! Everything would be revealed in the next chapter! ...Just kidding, but I'm saying the truth. Well some people may have a few hypothesis and I hope that my answer to you wouldn't be too cliché.**

**[REVIEW CORNER]**

_**\- To Maya Yoan's review at the previous chapter:**_Even Mira can make Trista obey sometimes! Ehehe! About Meliodas' hair, I inspired myself from one of the OVA of Seisen no Shirushi, where Meliodas and Gowther were tailing Gilthunder and his friends due to Merlin's request. Even though his hair was openly popping out from the wall, how the three misfits didn't even managed to notice it? Which is why I made it quite noticeable here! And about Trista's new clothes, it would come soon enough!


	17. Interlude in Between Arc - II

**A/N.: Hello! I'm sincerely sorry for the late update, I would have never thought that it would take me a whole month to get this chapter finished! And sorry if it's a rather short and boring chapter... And beware to possible OOC for the canon characters, i won't blame the readers if they don't like this chapter... though I would be happy if you could forgive me for it.**

**I made some slight modifications at the 14th chapter where Trista summoned her weapon from the ground but it isn't anything much special or different so there's probably no need to go check, ****I also changed the name of this arc, as it's completely unrelated to the original story and the titles of the 9th and 10th chapters to make them more related to their contents, the content itself remains unchanged so please don't worry about it.**

**I'm sorry for the lack of battle scenes in the recent chapters, because it's focuses more on an emotional conflict here, but I promise some when this arc would be over.**

**...The more that I write, the more I have the impression that my vocabulary in english is too repetitive... I must try to improve myself more. (-_-)**

* * *

"Oh, come on, are you kidding me?" The merchant looked at the night sky through the window of his shop, even though it just stopped raining in the afternoon, it started to rain again in the middle of the night after the fireworks. Well, thankfully he managed to bring all the goods he planned to sell back inside before they could get wet.

_'...But will it going to be the same tomorrow?'_ The merchant thought in a slightly worried manner as he glanced at the rain falling from the sky as the sound of the drops hitting the ground.

If it was the same then he wouldn't be able to open his shop tomorrow, and even if he could he didn't knew if there were any customers who would be willing to come confront the rain just for the sake of buying a few necessities… Yep, probably not much. Well even if Biron Town is known for its trades, doing business on a rainy day won't bring you much, and it became even harder after the Holy Knights' poings.

_'...So I guess I have no choice but to give up, huh?'_ The merchant sighed but then he blinked as he saw something quite unusual in the rain.

For a second, he thought to have seen a girl wearing a unusual dress and was walking under the rain but then he blinked and rubbed his eyes before realizing that it wasn't a dream.

It was soon that concern overtook his mind, it was the middle of a rainy night and there was no telling if thunder would strike any time soon, so he stood up from his seat and walked to the front door of his shop with the intention of warning her about the possible consequences but when he opened the door—

"...Huh?"

—The girl was nowhere to be seen, there was only the man who was confused with the situation, wondering if he has actually imaginated the scene before going back inside his shop.

* * *

**INTERLUDE IN BETWEEN ARC - II : _Distance_**

* * *

"...The rain is starting to get heavier." Elizabeth looked through the window as the reasoning sound of the rain hitting the ground harder. Though the sound of the rain could clearly be heard, it was hard to see it because of how dark the night is.

She was a bit worried about Diane, as the giantess couldn't fit in the Boar Hat then wouldn't she get wet and catch a cold? But that concern was soon avoided when they moved the Boar Hat towards a nearby cave. It was just large enough to barely fits a crouching Diane inside, but then another concern was still left inside her.

"—Elizabeth?"

"...!" Upon hearing her name being called, Elizabeth looked up and saw Meliodas at the entrance of the room they have been sharing together.

"...You didn't went to bath first?" Meliodas asked. He usually sent Elizabeth upward first by cleaning up and usually when he arrived, she would have already bathed and changed into her sleepwear. Yet, this time, she was sitting on the bedside, still in her waitress uniform.

"Ah, well..." She hesitated slightly over her answer, wondering if she should act as if there was nothing wrong? She had troubled Meliodas with her personal problems lately and he was kind enough to always lend an attentive ear and advices to her troubles, but she didn't wanted to always rely on him and bother him like that.

So she was about to open her mouth and answer him with that intention in mind, but he beat her to it...

"Let me guess, is that an invitation to enter bath together～?" He asked as a mischievous grin as he raised his hands up and started to make groping movements in the air.

Elizabeth blushed and covered her chest with her arms, flustered, "I-It's not that! Please don't tease me!"

"Sorry, sorry!" So he said but then his smile fell and his voice turned more serious, "Were you worried about Triss?"

"...?! H-How did you—?!" …'How did you knew about it?' She didn't even needed to ask the rest of the question that a wry smile appeared on Meliodas' face as he answered her, "It's all written on your face."

"Huh?! No way!" Elizabeth touched her own cheeks in shock but at the moment she did so, she heard Meliodas' signature laugh near her, "Nishishi!" She looked up to see that there was a matching grin on his face.

"C-Could it be that you are teasing me again?"

"Nope, but just wanted to see if you were going to check it yourself."

"Meliodas-sama!" Elizabeth's face flushed deeper before she pouted her cheeks and turned her face away from Meliodas, her hands folded on her lap.

She knows that she was acting childish right now but when she heard him laugh lightly from behind her, she just couldn't turn around.

"—But at least, you're feeling less tense right now, right?"

"...!" Elizabeth widened her eyes upon realizing Meliodas' real intention, it seems that he has seen through her attempt to bluff and didn't even gave her the opportunity of doing so, though she felt like sulking about how he seems to treat her like a child, she was more than anything touched by his kind actions and her chest was now filled with warmth.

So in response to his kindness, she decided to be open with what was in her mind. She looked down and declared, "It's just… I'm worried about Trista-san."

"As expected it was about that, huh?"

"Yes…" Meliodas rubbed the back of his head in a troubled manner and Elizabeth nodded at his words.

_'...Trista-san, she didn't came back at all… or rather, will she be able to come back?'_

After the said girl left it soon started to rain heavily and Diane was complaining about getting soaked so they had no choice but to first move towards a shelter but this caused them to leave the heterochromia girl behind.

Elizabeth didn't knew how long it has been since then, but she only knew that Trista didn't came back yet and that worried her. Of course she was aware that Trista would be fine on her own, that she was someone reliable in times in need and that despite her youthful appearance, she was quite mature and intelligent… if you remove her usual tendencies from the topic, of course, but that wasn't the matter here right now. Although she just caught a small glimpse of it…

_**...She has never seen such an expression on Trista's face before…**_

"But well… knowing Triss, she would surely be alright, right?"

"S-Still, we didn't had the time to inform her that we were moving and…!"

"It isn't the first time that she went on separate ways. She always managed to get back to us in a way or another right? Besides she did said that even if we were to go ahead, she would find a way to reach us later on, I was always curious of how she would do and maybe it's the good occasion to do it."

"..."

"That's why don't worry your mind out of it, it's already quite late and a lot of tiring things happened today, you must be tired. Though her appearance says otherwise, Triss is mature enough to make her decisions alone. So go take a bath, relax yourself and then go to sleep, okay, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth then felt a light weight on her head and looked up to see Meliodas grinning at her with a gentle smile, his hand patting her head in such a gentle way that not even her hair was disheveled.

Elizabeth felt a familiar warmth feeling her heart but now it was accompanied by a feeling that made her heart beat faster, butterflies going through her stomach and her cheeks flush. It was akin to nervosity yet it didn't felt that bad. Elizabeth has no word to describe the feeling she was going through right now, at a moment, she was calm and suddenly she can't calm down anymore…

However even though it was unsettling, it was also reassuring. This single and simple touch which was completely different from the usual 'skinship' she is put through since they first met. It had a much greater impact than just the embarrassment of the action, and it put her mind at ease even though her body wasn't calm yet.

She could certainly feel it, it wasn't an action made to tease or fluster her but one out of genuine kindness and almost affectionate. Now that she thought about it, she didn't saw Meliodas doing such things to anyone other than her, did that meant that he was just seeing her as a child after all? Even though such a reason should depress her, it wasn't the case this time, as she felt her heart being comforted by the warmth of Meliodas' hand.

Suddenly she felt like some kind of puppy or kitten enjoying the caress of their owner, but it didn't felt the less insulting. All she wanted was to keep on closing her eyes in a peaceful manner and continue to enjoy that warmth—

_'...However…'_ Elizabeth opened her eyes and gently took off Meliodas' hand from her head.

"Eli...zabeth…?" She could hear Meliodas' confused voice calling her name, it hurts her more than she expected, all she hoped is that he didn't misunderstood that she was rejecting his touch. So she held his hand in her owns.

She was a bit afraid of his reaction, but she still decided to looked up, and as expected, he had a shocked look on his face, his eyes wide opened and his mouth unmoving. The fact that she made him make such a face gave another pang of guilt in her heart but she bear it and then returned Meliodas' gaze with her own.

"Meliodas-sama, thank you very much… However, I…"

_'I don't want to get spoiled like this any further.'_ For the first time, she would go against him. Her grip on his hand grew tighter, as if she was praying that even a little portion of the seemingly endless strength and courage that he usually show through all circumstances to be lend to her.

"I… I will go look for Trista-san, so please go rest first Meliodas-sama." Elizabeth then let go of Meliodas' hand before standing up from the bed and trying to walk past Meliodas and reach the door, trying to not look at his face and make her finally newfound resolve wavering. However she didn't even managed to get past him, when—

"...?!" A yelp almost escaped her lips when she felt her wrist being grabbed strongly.

She turned around and saw that Meliodas was the one who was holding her (of course he would be, who else but her and him were currently in their shared bedroom?), his bangs were hiding his eyes so she couldn't see his expression but his lips were closed and set in a firm line, indicating that he probably wasn't pleased with her decision.

"M-Meliodas-sama…?"

"...Elizabeth." This was the deepest intonation that she heard from his voice. A voice devoid of all the usual cheerfulness and mischief that was present usually and was instead replaced with a seriousness and a dangerous edge that was present the most of the time during the dangerous battle or when he was giving orders to his fellow Sins.

But he has never turned such a voice towards her, he usually had a smile directed towards her. The only time he spoke to her with such a serious tone was when she was crying over Dr. Dana's body, when the latter had been stabbed by Golgius, when he chastised her over her wavering determination and when he swore that particular promise to her.

However never once he did something close to threatening her, never once there was that dangerous and warning edge in his voice directed to her. Now Elizabeth felt like she was sliding over really thin ice and that the slightest wrong movement could lead her to her fall.

"Elizabeth." His usually reassuring voice was now making her shudder, goosebumps were standing on her neck as fear started to spread through her body, making her tremble.

She never imagined that one day she would feel such a way about the Meliodas who always kindly treated her and protected her, and now her small moment of fear of a few seconds ago was replaced by shame, deep shame for even thinking of her savior in such a way.

But even so, in a way or another, she managed to get out a proper response to him from her mouth, "...What is it, Meliodas-sama?" Surprisingly, she didn't stuttered when she uttered those words, even though all she could do is to stutter clumsily and nervously in his presence the most of the time.

"..." Meliodas finally looked up and his vivid green eyes matched her own gaze, the sheer intensity behind them which was never fixed on her almost made her flinch, but somehow, Elizabeth managed to keep herself from averting her gaze away from him.

"Where are you planning to go?" So he asked again.

"...I'm going to look for Trista-san." There was no need to lie on this fact, or rather it shouldn't even be a fact she should be lying about. Of course she could have given a plausible excuse in order to excuse herself without any suspicion but it was already impossible the moment she gave her first answer… and to say the truth, such an idea didn't even came to the pure and honest Elizabeth's mind.

Meliodas' expression didn't changed the slightest even with her answer as he gave her his own, "I already said that Triss was fine, she's always fine and she's surely going to be fine this time too. That's why there's no need for you to put yourself in danger for that."

"There is nothing dangerous about—"

"—'Nothing dangerous about going out at night'? In the middle of the rain? Of course there is. A young woman like you walking alone in the middle of a rainy night? What isn't dangerous in it? Everything is dangerous! Don't you remember that you were just kidnapped by a Holy Knight? We certainly moved a bit away from Biron Town but we're still close enough. What if they find you accidentally? We just managed to make you escape and you want to be caught back already?."

"..." Elizabeth couldn't retort anything back at that, indeed all his words were true, and even though she knew that he wasn't trying to blame her it still hurt her when she realized that she didn't thought it through fully. Her actions could put not only her in danger but also ruin all the efforts the Sins took to rescue her. The best for now was to back off and do as he says but…

_'But even so…'_ Elizabeth bite her lower lip and Meliodas who saw that, frowned for the first time in the conversation as he muttered, "...So you're not planning to give up, huh?" And as expected, mysteriously, he would read her mind as if he had psychic abilities.

"...I am sincerely sorry, Meliodas-sama." This time, she did avoided her gaze, because if she didn't she probably wouldn't have the strength to refuse him any further. Apologies were the only thing she could give him for now.

"...You know what, Elizabeth? We managed to find you in time because Hawk knew where you were hidden. And now you're planning to go alone, both the rain and night are working against us, and if you're taken away in such circumstances then we probably wouldn't be able to find you this time. We are the Seven Deadly Sins but even us have our limits."

"...!" Elizabeth's eyes widened at his last few words.

"It's not like I want to get angry at you or anything, so please just understand and let's wait for Triss to come back, okay?" His voice seemed to lie between a scolding and a plea, but it was now gentler and less harsh then earlier, even though it still isn't the voice she's used to hear. But there was something else that caught her attention...

"...Meliodas-sama, what did you just said?" So in order to confirm it, she asked him to repeat his words.

"That it's not like I want to get angry at you or anything?"

"No, not that. What did you said near the end?"

"...? That even us, the Seven Deadly Sins have our limits?"

"...Yes, that."

"And what about it?"

"Meliodas-sama, you are very strong. And so are all of your comrades."

"...What?"

"You are so strong that you managed to overcome all the opponents that were set against you since the beginning of our journey."

"Thanks…?" Meliodas sounded hesitant and confused at the same time, well it couldn't be blamed if he didn't understood about what she was going on, even her had an hard time to formulate her thoughts as proper words. But even so, it was something that Meliodas just said himself even though he hasn't realized it yet himself.

"However even you can get hurt. Even everyone can get hurt, and as you said, everyone have their limits."

"Elizabeth, what are you trying to say?" Meliodas' frown deepened and Elizabeth took a deep breath and gave him her answer, trying her best to hide her anxiousness towards his response and her own nervousness hidden.

"I am trying to say that even though it depend from a person to another, this is the same for everyone. For Meliodas-sama, for the Seven Deadly Sins… and even for Trista-san."

"...?!" Meliodas' eyes widened and his grip on her wrist loosened without him noticing due to the shock.

Elizabeth took that opportunity to hurry towards the door. She never expected that one day she would run away from Meliodas of all people. But as expected of the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins, her poor physical skills could never compare to his as before she can even reach the door, he's already in front of her, blocking it away from her reach.

"Elizabeth. Even if it's you, I won't repeat myself twice. Stop immediately what you're trying to do. For the last time, Trista is alright. And moreover, what are you planning to do? What can you even do?" He was now literally glaring at her, his eyes squinted and his brows furrowed, something akin to a spark was shining in his eyes.

_—He was serious enough to even stop calling Trista by the nickname he gave her._

If she were to keep further then even she wouldn't be shied away from his wrath. What on earth can a sheltered princess do against the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins? What can she even do for them?

Indeed, there was hardly anything she could think of as an answer, and Meliodas' words and stern voice were hurting her far more than she expected. She knew that he was trying to dissuade her for her sake, that he was concerned about her safety, but it still hurt her that such a cold voice coming from him was directed towards her even if she's the one at fault here. It hurted that he refused to believe in her, even though she knew he had no reason to do so.

Trying to go against his decision is something she would never have imagined herself doing just not even one day ago, but now here she is trying to search all the possibilities answers through her mind in order to prove him otherwise.

Depending on her next answer, it may completely destroy the relationship between them. A relationship, no matter how short it is, which she came to treasure greatly. A relationship that may mean nothing to him. A relationship that may end on this day, at this same moment, because of her. And that scared her more than anything, even more about the time when she was facing the Holy Knights, even more than the night she escaped from the kingdom…

And at the moment she felt that she couldn't endure this pressure anymore and was about to cave in..

_"—Are you coming?"_

...Trista's words resurfaced in her mind. A simple sentence that she asked her when she healed her from the wounds Ruin did to her, asking her if wherever she wanted to go to Baste Dungeon with them and ignoring Hawk who was trying to refuse for her sake.

But it was without doubt a question addressed only at her. What did she wanted to do? Without being pressured by anybody's opinion, what did she wanted to do?

"...Indeed as you said Meliodas-sama, I may be hardly from any use. ...But I think that even I can at least try to do something. I cannot support you like how your comrades of the Seven Deadly Sins are doing, but if you ever feel troubled then I can at least be there to listen to your worries! Because no matter how strong you are, even you need someone at your side! And it's the same for Trista-san!"

Meliodas' eyes widened at her words for a second but it soon regained its sharpness as he asked her the following questions. "And you think that it would help Triss? Do you think that Triss even need such a thing? Even if it's from good intention, it can still turn into needless concern."

_'And also a bother…'_

Though such words didn't came out from Meliodas' mouth, Elizabeth could feel that he was insinuating something like that. Even though it was possible, it did nothing to change her decision and opinion.

The more she talked and more the hesitation and fear of the repercussion disappeared from her mind, to the point where she can actually argue back with Meliodas.

"Yes, it may be true, everything Meliodas-sama says is true—"

"Then…!"

"—However, even if what you said is true it doesn't mean that you are right."

"Wha…?!"

"Even if it's unneeded, even if it wasn't wished for… I don't want to be bound by regrets, by the thought of 'If only I did this at that time', so I at least want to try! I know that it may be selfish of me, but even if it end in failure and that I end up regretting it, at least for now…! What do you think Trista-san is?! She is a person like all of us! That expression that she made when she left… can you say for sure that she is alright with such an expression?! During all the years you have known Trista-san, did she even made such an expression?! Even if you look alright, it doesn't mean that you are alright! I know that well because Meliodas-sama is the same!"

"..." Meliodas was silent and his expression couldn't be seen anymore, he was immobile and Elizabeth could only wait calmly for his response. But none came and the earlier adrenaline that gave her fearless courage started to dissipate while fear and nervousness started to take over her body once again, stucking her on the ground, incapable of moving.

Meliodas didn't said anything but then his calm attitude soon broke as he clicked his tongue in what seemed to be annoyance with his teeths gritted, "...Tch!"

This action made Elizabeth flinch. But then it turned into confusion as Meliodas started to ruffle his hair in a very messy manner as if he was agitated. This action confused Elizabeth, she has never seen the usually calm Meliodas in such a state, besides this fast change of attitude in just a few seconds didn't helped her to understand either, especially since she still couldn't see his facial expression.

"...Hah…" Suddenly he stopped all actions before giving a heavy sigh and dropping his shoulders lower as if he has given up.

Elizabeth watched all this, puzzled, but then Meliodas suddenly raised his head upward and looked straight at her, his sharp green eyes bore into hers, as he took a step forward.

Before she even realized it, Elizabeth was taken by the arm quite forcefully and was dragged backward by Meliodas, quite away from the door she was supposed to go through. Perhaps it's due to the surprise, but she didn't even thought about putting strength in her feets in order to resist him

And then when she blinked again, she found herself being pushed on the bed with Meliodas hovering her, covering her body with his own and cutting off all escape routes, both of his hands were placed between her head and a fierce expression on his face.

"Listen well… Elizabeth." Meliodas began, his voice deep like the man he is supposed to be and not the boy he seems to be.

"Y-Yes…?!" ...She almost cringed when she noticed that she was stuttering again.

But thankfully, Meliodas didn't noticed that… or he just didn't mentioned it as he continued to speak. "I'M, going to search for Trista. So YOU just stay put here and wait! Is that understood? And you better have taken a bath and changed into your sleepwear when I'll be back!"

His voice carried some kind of authority that made her just shut up and nods, perhaps it's to be expected of the leader of the seven most renowned criminals who can make them obey his every order.

Seeming to be satisfied with her response, Meliodas' frown lessened and he got off from her, leaving her completely speechless on the bed. Meliodas then walked towards the door and turned the doorknob with his hand, but before crossing the door, he threw a last glance at Elizabeth.

"...Elizabeth, I'm warning you, even if it's you I can't let this one slide."

"Y-Yes…"

"So be prepared for some punishment when I'll come back."

***Clack***

And with that one last declaration, he left the room and slammed the door behind him.

Now the only person left in the room was Elizabeth. After realizing that Meliodas is gone from the room, Elizabeth pushed herself in a sitting position on the bed as she started to slowly register what happened in her mind. Then she brought a trembling hand to cover her mouth, and…

"...～!"

And her face flushed beet red with a 'POF' sound, steam coming out from her head as she took a deep breath in realization. She then put both hands on her burning cheeks as her mind started to storm about what happened earlier.

_'M-Meliodas-sama, he, he… No, rather what am I doing?!'_

She couldn't even believe herself being such a person who is so easy to sway. She put a hand on her fast-beating heart, feeling it pulsing both strong and quick through her chest.

_'How, or rather why…?!'_

Even though she had been nothing but scared at the beginning, Meliodas last few actions have left her in a… err… quite confused, yes that's it! A quite confused state to the point when she found it almost cute of him when he shown her a rare shaken side of him. A confused state that made her heart skip a few beats at once and that set her face on fire.

She couldn't even believe herself when she thought that she almost liked it when he dragged her away forcefully and pushed her on the bed...

_'E-Even though it was a serious discussion, even though it wasn't the time for such a thing, why, why, why am I always so… towards Meliodas-sama…?!'_ Elizabeth felt both ashamed and flustered by her own reactions towards him and had to bury her face in the pillow in order to muffle a squeak that was about to exit her mouth.

The more she remembered, the less she understood, but it wasn't something that can get out of her mind too… Yes, without doubt there was something wrong with her. She didn't knew if it was because of too much stimulations in a single day but maybe she would need to go see a doctor.

* * *

However, unknown to Elizabeth, Meliodas was still on the other side of the door, crouching down on the ground with his face in his hands as he gave a quiet but long and exhausted sigh.

_'...Did I went too far…?'_ He wondered as the scenes of earlier started to repeat in his mind.

He never expected for the usual timid and obedient Elizabeth to openly argue back against him, well not the extend of lashing out at him, but the shock was still enough to make his mind go blank for a while due to the shock.

Well he definitely knows that she isn't weak-minded, on the contrary she has nerves of steel underneath her pleasant exterior and her courage has impressed not only many allies but even enemies, it's also one of the reason that makes him fond of her. However he never expected for her to turn against him.

Okay, it did happened a lot during their first meeting, not in this life, and it also happened with many others mostly one-sided due to the fiery personalities she had during the few other lives. But this Elizabeth was without doubt one of the most pacifist and peaceful, and as much it was nostalgic and almost endearing, it would definitely depress him and break his moral if their relationship is over because of that.

Of course he knows that Elizabeth is quite forgiving, patient and kind. She had forgiven all the assassins and Holy Knights who tried to aim at her life but it's not like had an argument with them. He couldn't hold back his boiling feelings underneath his calm mask and Elizabeth's scared expression and her trembling hand brought him back to his senses, making him realizing that his face must be pretty frightening right now, an expression that he previously swore to himself to never show to her.

_'But despite that, she still had the courage to openly face me, as expected of Elizabeth… no wait, that's not the problem here.'_ Meliodas massaged his forehead with his fingers and tried to reorganize his thoughts only for it to fail again as he realized that the previous few moments left him too agitated to even think correctly.

However there was one thing that he was sure of as he stood up and finally walked downstairs with the intention of keeping his word. _'...Trista, if I and Elizabeth don't reconcile after that, I will hold an eternal grudge towards you.'_

...By the way, the two of them were too bothered by their own current status to notice that the other is actually in exactly the same state. If they took the time to think correctly then they would have noticed that they weren't in a fight anymore since a while ago.

The first thing that Meliodas thought of was to go search for Mira, since she was apparently Trista's friend, then she should know her better than he does. He didn't knew where she was though, when both he and Elizabeth came back and when Trista stormed out from the Boar Hat, Mira was nowhere to be seen. So she probably wasn't in the main hall and he could hardly imagine her hiding in the room he shared with Elizabeth and the one that was shared by Ban and King. ...And let's not even talk about the possibility of the toilet.

...Thus, there was only one option left.

_'In the end, it's the only place where I can think she is.'_ So he decided to head to the attic where Trista sleep most of the time. He climbed up the stairs and when he finally reached that floor, he was thinking that he should knock but then witnessed that the door is open, when he walked in front of the entrance, he saw Mira sitting on Trista's usual spot with a pensive expression on her face. Good, it seems that she still wasn't asleep.

"...Yo, Mira!" He called out to her and raised a hand in greeting.

The shoulders of said person quivered in surprise before she turned her bewildered gaze towards him. "...Meliodas-san?"

"Yup, sorry to bother you so late but can I talk to you a bit?"

"Meliodas-san want to talk to me? This is quite rare of you." Mira expressed with genuine surprise.

Well it wasn't surprising. Meliodas' interactions with Mira were close to non-existent besides for the few teasing he did to her with Trista. She was always sticking to a certain someone he actually wished to avoid if possible, thus he didn't talked to her unless it was necessary. But now it seems to be one of those necessary times.

"Triss didn't came back for a while and Elizabeth's getting worried. Do you perhaps know where she went?"

"..." Mira gave it a thought before she reacted as if she has realized something, which caught Meliodas' attention. However her answer was unexpected, "No, to say the truth, I am completely clueless like you are."

"Seriously? From your reaction earlier, I thought that you had an idea."

"Unfortunately I don't. You probably understand about how unpredictable she can be, right?"

"Well, can't deny that…" Meliodas rubbed his head in a troubled manner.

When you think that you finally managed to figure her out, she does something else to surprise you, that's the kind of person Trista is. However…

"...Say, are you sure you're not lying?" Meliodas asked, his eyes narrowing.

...There was something that felt wrong in her response.

Mira looked at him in an unresponsive manner before she shook her head in denial. Even though he could continue to ask further, Meliodas decided to do against that. The atmosphere that the Mira in front of him carried was different from the one he usually knew. Too mature, way too serene and ephemeral, as if she was a completely different person now.

He wouldn't get any answers from her with that, thus...

"...Okay, then do you perhaps know the reason Triss isn't here?"

Thus he asked her a different question.

"...If it's that then perhaps I know, yes." Mira closed her eyes as a resigned smile came to her lips as she added, "And it's probably of my fault."

Even though he didn't wanted to know, he still asked. "...What happened?"

"Well, we had a fight and it seems that she didn't took it well."

"So in the end, you did had a fight after all..." Meliodas sighed. Even though Trista claimed otherwise this morning, it seems that it was actually the case.

Meliodas then turned on his heel, his back now facing Mira, as he started to walk out from the room. Before he exit it, he heard Mira's voice calling out to him from behind. "Aren't you going to ask for the reason?"

"Nope, not interested."

"I see… then will you be fine on your own?"

"Well Diane can't exit the cavern, Ban and King are probably sleeping by now and Elizabeth is officially on house arrest punishment. So if you can make sure that Elizabeth doesn't try to escape then I'll be grateful."

"It seems to be rough, then if it can help to lessen your burden a bit then I'll gladly do so."

"Thanks." And with that last answer, Meliodas left, running downward. But before he reached the stairs...

"However Meliodas-san... This isn't because you are not interested but simply that you are afraid to know..._ of course I understand, because I too_—"

Even though Meliodas could hear Mira's fait whisper, he decided to act as if he didn't and ignored them without stopping on his way.

When he came down and reached the floor of his room, he gave a glance to the still closed door but didn't stopped at there to check, just hoped that Elizabeth didn't tried anything stupid like sneaking out when he wasn't looking before running further down and exiting his bar.

When he came out from the Boar Hat, he glanced at Diane who was leaning against the wall of the cavern, sleeping and uncaring about the loud sound of the rain outside. It showed how much she must be tired from walking around, with that there's no way he could ask her for any help either.

Meliodas looked up at the sky, the rain didn't stopped, on the contrary it was growing even stronger. Thus he sighed as he walked out and let the raindrops hit his body.

_'Triss, you better owe me one after this!'_

With that he ran outside...

* * *

Thankfully for Meliodas, as he wished for, or at least expected to, Elizabeth was still in an emotional turmoil and rolling on the bed while hugging a pillow to her face, hoping that the soft clothed feeling would be able to turn her back to normal, but as you can expect it didn't succeeded.

"Uuh～ How will I face Meliodas-sama again after that? I don't think I even can look at him in the eyes!" Elizabeth groaned as she headbutted herself in the pillow, not that it did anything to her due to its softness.

She knew that there was a possibility that she would regret her previous decision, but she didn't expected it to be so soon.

***Knock, knock***

"Wah...?!" Elizabeth's body jumped in surprise as she bounced on the bed from a lying to a sitting position. Her heart beating from surprise of the unexpected sound as nervosity started to fill her, fearing that the person who just knocked may be the person she want to see the least right now…

"—Umm… Princess Elizabeth? It's Mira."

"M-Mira-san?"

"Yes… May I enter?"

Elizabeth didn't expected her of all people to be knocking at the door of her room… or rather, Meliodas' room at such an hour, but she also gave a sigh of relief that it wasn't Meliodas himself who came back here. It isn't that she didn't wanted to see him but more that she wasn't emotionally ready for this yet.

Elizabeth then put the pillow she was hugging earlier back on the bed before getting off of it herself and walking towards the door, "Please wait a second! I will open the door for you!" She called out and then turned the doorknob and opened it.

In front of her, there was Mira who's giving her a wry smile. "Princess Elizabeth, I can do that much myself you know? Or is it really impolite of me to intrude your room suddenly like this?"

"Of course not! I am sincerely sorry if I made you believe so… I just didn't wanted to trouble you with such a task."

"Even though turning a doorknob is nothing troubling? Do I look even incapable of doing that to you?"

"Eh? N-No, it isn't…" When Elizabeth started to struggle for an answer, Mira couldn't help but laugh a bit, "Ahaha! I am joking! I apologize, I was just trying to tease you a bit."

Elizabeth widened her eyes in shock at this, "EH?!" She was about to panic when she thought that her concern accidentally offended her, but it turned out that she was just being teased… as usual.

Elizabeth started to pout slightly at this realization, "Not only Meliodas-sama and Ban-sama… even Mira-san now… why everyone just like to poke fun at me?"

"Well… I think that everybody have their own reasons… but since I'm always the one who get bullied, I want to tease someone else for a change, you have my apologies." Mira smiled in a slight sheepish manner.

"Please don't say that…" Hearing Mira's reason made Elizabeth gave a heavier sigh, but despite that she could feel slight sympathy and compassion for Mira building itself inside her, the feeling of wanting to escape when you are embarrassed yet that the other party wouldn't even allow such a thing to happen. But still, it didn't meant that she wanted that they take it on her at their turn now…

""...Ahaha!"" Both of them shared a slight laugh and Elizabeth took another look at Mira.

She was slightly taller than Trista and Meliodas but her height is lower than Elizabeth's. Though it was different in a way from Trista's doll-like body, Mira also seemed to have a quite delicate and frail build. She seemed so thin that her clothes kind of baggy, maybe it's because of that Elizabeth tried to open the door for her.

"So, was there something you needed Mira-san?" She asked, the time right now was between night and morning. Everyone else were probably asleep by now, which is actually normal compared to how they were staying awake even by now.

In normal time, Elizabeth should already be asleep by now but with everything that happened just now kept her wide awake and she wouldn't be able to fall asleep any soon. And when she thought about Meliodas who's also wide awake and searching for Trista outside it gave another pang of guilt in her heart.

"Actually, Meliodas-san asked me to keep an eye on you, so you wouldn't be sneaking out from your room and try to do something stupid."

"...!" Elizabeth felt an imaginary arrow descend from the sky and stab her in the heart quite mercilessly. She couldn't deny that the thought did crossed her mind but Meliodas already agreed to go look for Trista and if she were to go now, it would just create further problems for him to deal with. And she couldn't afford to give him more trouble than she has already.

"I-I see…" Despite the shock of the revelations (along with Meliodas' lack of trust in her, which was definitely what she deserved), Elizabeth still managed to keep a stiff smile on her face. By now she couldn't send Mira back so better as well keep her here.

"M-Mira-san, would you like some tea? If you want I can go make some…"

"Then allow me to accompany you, just in case."

"I-I'm not going to escape! It's true!" Elizabeth quickly explained.

"I know, but Meliodas-san would be angry if he doesn't see me with you when he return."

"Uuh… I-I understand…" Upon facing Mira's strangely knowing smile, Elizabeth couldn't help but reluctantly agree to her request and bite back what she was about to retort.

"Princess Elizabeth, do those teawares belongs to Meliodas-san?"

"Eh? I-I think…? It was already present in his room when I first came here."

"...Isn't it kind of unexpected, why teawares in a bar? I expected him to be more of an alcohol person than a tea person…"

"Is that so?" Both Mira and Elizabeth were chatting about trivial matter.

Such a thought never occured to Elizabeth but indeed what Mira said make sense. However it isn't strange even for the alcohol lover Meliodas to drink something else, right? ...No, actually to say the truth she has never seen him drinking anything else than ale. Wasn't it bad for his health even though he is good at handling it? Or maybe he wanted a change of taste for once?

However upon being reminded of Meliodas' name when she was boiling water in the kitchen and preparing the tea leaves, Elizabeth asked nervously, "Err… Mira-san, is Meliodas-sama already…"

"Yes. It seemed that he already left for outside. I don't think he would back so soon."

"I-I see…" Elizabeth didn't knew wherever she should be relieved or disappointed from the news, she should be relieved that he went to look for Trista as he promised so there was no need to be disappointed, of course it wasn't possible for them to be back immediately.

"But still it surprised me…" Mira muttered, "I never expected that Meliodas-san of all people would go search for Trista-chan and alone moreover in such a terrible weather."

"EH?! He went all alone?!" Elizabeth was shocked to learn such a thing, she thought that he would ask help from the other members of the Sins but then remembered the fact that all of them were surely asleep due to the exhaustion of the long trip.

_'But then why didn't he asked me for help… no, actually I think that I'll just cause more trouble for him.'_ Elizabeth may not look like it but due to many past and recent experiences, she is more aware than anyone about the damages her usual clumsiness lead to… and not to mention that she has absolutely no sense of direction… It hurt to admit it but she really can't be of any help.

In order to avoid another attack of depression towards her personal weaknesses, Elizabeth decided to change the subject, "T-Then what about Mira-san? Mira-san is always caring so much about Trista-san, so I thought that you would be looking for her everywhere… The two of you are quite good friends." Even though they often quarrel, Elizabeth giggled as she kept the last part of her sentence to herself. However when she received no answer, she turned to see

Upon hearing her words, Mira suddenly flinched. She stood there, silent and unmoving as if time just froze her in place.

This started to worry Elizabeth. _'Did I said something unnecessary again? It seems that I keep on messing up today…'_ Not only Meliodas but now even Mira. Elizabeth was about to apologize but Mira was one step ahead of her.

"...Does it…"

"Eh?"

"...Does it really seems so…?"

"About what?"

"...Do we really seems like good friends to you?" The way she asked it sounded strangely fragile, her voice was trembling a bit and she refused to meet Elizabeth's gaze.

This puzzled Elizabeth, after all since they first met she always saw Mira being clingy to Trista and their interactions gave the impression that there are a great length of time in their relationships. That they weren't holding back anything to each other. So of what was Mira being so insecure about all of the sudden?

"Yes. Well even though you two often quarrel, it isn't in a bad way. It's just show how much you two are close of each other, I guess?"

"...I see…" Though Elizabeth wanted to reassure Mira with her answer, it didn't seemed to have worked in the way she wanted as Mira's expression turned strangely sad.

But then her expression turned resigned as she spoke further, "...Well… after what happened, I doubt that she would want to see me." It was probably the answer to the question Elizabeth asked earlier.

"...What do you mean by this? Did you two had a fight…?"

"...I'll tell you when we'll be upward. The kettle is overboiling Princess Elizabeth. I'll prepare the cups so please take care of the tea."

"..." Even though she smiled, Elizabeth couldn't help but think that Mira was purposely avoiding to answer the question. But she did promised to answer it afterwards, so all Elizabeth can do right now was to wait anxiously and patiently for the right moment to come.

She couldn't help but feel that there is an unspokable and invisible distance between all of them.

* * *

Trista was just moving forward, her drenched dress was now sticking to her body and so did her wet long hair. However she didn't cared about such a thing and neither of the rain that grew more intense through passing each second.

Not once did she stopped in her steps, not even once did she looked up or around her, her bangs and the darkness of the night were hiding her eyes and the expression she was making was unrecognizable.

***BAAAAAM—!***

But then thunder suddenly started to roar through the sky, the sparks of lightning were sending blinding light through the dark cloudy night sky and the sound reasoned deep within the earth, almost making the puddle of rainwater on the ground trembles and cause ripples to appear on it.

Trista wasn't the least fazed by it, but she did stop in her steps and looked upward, towards the sky…

***BAAAAAM—!***

Another lightning spark appeared and finally enlighten her earlier invisible expression and…

"..."

Not even light, not even the thunder… there was absolutely nothing reflected in her void-like empty eyes.

* * *

**A/N.: I say it beforehand but Elizabeth is certainly not a pervert, she's just too infliuenced by the romance novels Margaret recommended to her in the past, that's all, yes! I sincerely apologize for the late update, I wanted to finish things sooner but then I had to remodify some scenes after thinking about them over and again. Next chapter is going to be the last of this arc and the one after that is the Vaizel one.**

**Here is Elizabeth and Meliodas' first and probably one of the few only... I hope that it isn't be too OOC. In the next chapter, the content of Trista and Mira's talk would finally be revealed.**

**I originally wanted to make only two chapters for this arc but it would be then too long so it would be a three-chapters arc. I also have the feeling that this arc is more suited for the genres of my story, thus mainly drama, hurt and comfort.**

**Please review your ****opinion, I'm also open to criticism, especially in this more serious chapter where I think that such things would be needed for self-improvement.**

**[REVIEW CORNER]**

**_\- To __Fantasy.92__'s review at the previous chapter:_ **Thank you for your support as always!

**_\- To __merendinoemiliano__'s review at the previous chapter: _**I will try my best for the Vaizel arc.

**_\- To __Maya Yaon__'s review at the previous chapter: _**Yes she can! If your brother can do that for real than he's more amazing! Well if she's taken by surprise, even Trista can be shocked, well since she's observant, you must first find something she wouldn't expect to happen, which would happen soon in the future.


	18. Interlude in Between Arc - III

**A/N.: Good day everyone! I am sincerely sorry for the late update, I was in the middle of my Summer traineeship for school this month and school is starting again so I hardly had the time to update. I at least wanted to finish it before the end of the August month but I didn't managed to... Once again, I'm sorry.**

* * *

**INTERLUDE IN BETWEEN ARC - III : _One Step Forward_**

* * *

"—A young girl wearing an extravagant black dress?"

"Yeah, Mister, did you happen to see anyone like that walking around here?" This time it was a young boy, who was drenched by the rain with his clothes and hair sticking to his body and face that the man saw this time.

Unlike the girl he thought to have seen a few hours prior, this one came to knock at his door. He certainly didn't expected for him to ask questions on wherever he had seen the girl he described walking through here.

The merchant was immediately reminded of the girl and tried his best to remember her features from the short memories he had of it. "—This girl… does she have long blonde hair? Almost as long as her body?"

"...?!" This last question made the boy react, his eyes wide as he froze, then he recovered from his small shock and nodded with energy, "Yeah! It's her!"

"So it was real, huh? Since she wasn't here anymore by the moment I blinked, I thought that it was just my imagination…" The man muttered before straightening himself, "Well she did walked by here a while ago, but unfortunately I don't know where she could have gone."

"I see…"

"I'm sorry, young man, I'm not much of help, aren't I?" The shop owner was slightly apologetic about it but the boy just shook his head and hands in denial, "No, just that was plenty enough, at least I know she's around! Thanks, Mister!"

He grinned as if he wanted to reassure the man, but before he could walk away—

"Wait, young man! Are you sure that you don't wanna at least to take shelter from the rain for a while? Especially in such a late time! If you're fine with it, I can let you in my shop for a few hours!"

After all it was certainly not an hour and weather where children should be out alone, and his family should probably be worried about him. But the boy didn't seemed to mind much about it as he just grinned and waved his hand, "It's alright! I'm a bit in hurry!"

"..." The merchant widened his eyes before he smiled at his turn, but in a more tired and exasperated manner, a strong feeling of déjà-vu hitting him. It seems that he wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. But before he let the boy go, he said one last thing to him: "For you to be looking for her even in such circumstances, she must be pretty important, huh? I hope that you'll find her soon!"

"..."

The merchant thought that the two of them must be relatives or something, as they both have blonde hair, besides the girl should be someone important enough to the boy for him to go such lengths in order to find her, thus he wouldn't discourage him and instead decided to encourage him. He seriously didn't had any bad intention towards the boy or the girl when he spoke those words.

But since he had his back turned to the other party, he saw and neither realized the effects of the words he said lightly had on the boy as he returned in his shop and closed the door behind him, not noticing that the blonde-haired green-eyed boy in bartender uniform just froze in shock under the rain.

* * *

**INTERLUDE IN BETWEEN ARC - III : _After the Rain_**

* * *

"—So, to answer your previous question Princess Elizabeth… You can say that in a way, we had an argument with each other." Mira said before she blew slightly on her tea before lifting the cup with both hands to her mouth and taking a small sip of it. Even though she did admit that they had an argument, she didn't look to be particularly bothered by it, and that puzzled Elizabeth.

The two of them were currently facing each other across the table, both of them sitting on the chairs present in the room the princess shared with Meliodas. Both her and Mira have agreed that it would be a better place for discussion instead of the hall, where they could be interrupted at any moment.

Elizabeth didn't understood why Mira decided to stick papers to the wall around them, but the latter just answered that it was for more 'privacy'.

"I don't want to wake up the others, they must surely be tired from the long trip so I would like to let them rest without disturbing them with our talk." ...So, she said. And Elizabeth accepted that reason and thought the same, after all even though they were on different floors, it didn't mean that it was soundproof.

"But first… I'll do some talk about the past."

"Eh…?!"

"Why are you being so surprised for, Princess Elizabeth?"

"W-Well, since you hardly spoke of yourself so…" Mira hardly spoke of herself, so it was a shock to hear that suddenly, without any questions about her past being asked to her, she would reveal some personal information.

Upon hearing her answer, Mira started to laugh wryly, "Ahaha! That's because if I say too much, Trista-chan would get angry, if she was here, I would hardly get the chance to say anything."

"Now that I think about it, Trista-san almost never say anything about herself too…?" Elizabeth remembered that there were many times were Meliodas mentioned that there were many new things he discovered about Trista, which he never knew about before. Even though the two of them know each other the longest… well, it was at least the case before Mira came.

Mira put a hand on her chin as she hummed in thought before giving her answer, "...Is that girl still a poor talker even after all this time? Well she probably thinks that revealing too much can lead to a drawback, so she hardly open up by herself. However, if you were to ask, then she would probably answer. She doesn't speak often by herself but if someone try to start a conversation with her, she isn't one to refuse… or at least that's how she used to be; I don't know if she is still like this…"

Even though Mira's explanation were quite hesitant, taking account of her voice, but Elizabeth found her description of Trista to be pretty accurate actually. But maybe it has to be expected of the one who know her the longest among them…

But if it was so, why was Mira so hesitant to affirm the relationship a while earlier when she bragged so much about it during their first meeting? Even though she declared herself so proudly as Trista's friend and sounded dramatically hurt that Trista doesn't recognize this fact, why was she so hesitant about it by now?

There was a small silence between them now, they could hear the sound of the rain from outside of the window and also smell the slightly wet and damp smell that come with. But then Mira smiled wryly as she put back the teacup on the saucer plate.

"...So… may I continue now?"

"Eh?" Elizabeth tilted her head on the side for a second before widening her eyes in realization at what Mira meant, "Y-Yes, I'm terribly sorry for interrupting you!"

Mira giggled at her serious reaction, "It's alright. It's normal to be curious. I'll gladly answer all the questions that you have, but unfortunately, I hope that you'll forgive me for the lack of precision in the story and not going too much into the details."

"Yes, I don't mind. I know perfectly that everyone wants to have their privacy."

"It's really great that you are being so understanding. ...Why that girl can't learn from you, I wonder?" Mira put a hand on her cheek and sighed in exasperation.

Elizabeth didn't need to ask in order to understand of who she was talking about as a nervous smile grew on her face. After all there was only one person who could make the most steel-minded people here, holding their heads as if they were having a headache.

It was a wonder why she had yet reached that state too… or rather, it may be better for her to never experience it.

"Let's see… As you may be aware of it, or no…? I am a foreigner; I don't belong to this Britannia in which you are all part of."

Elizabeth widened her eyes a bit before she nodded, indeed, not only her appearance but also her clothing and even her mannerisms, all about Mira were hinting this fact. But if it was so...

_'Yet if it's the case… why didn't I took notice of this until she mentioned it?'_ Elizabeth was confused by her own thoughts.

Mira's appearance was pretty uncommon, and Elizabeth didn't remember to have seen such a style of clothing anywhere before even though she is royalty, thus during their first meeting, Mira did last an impression in Elizabeth's mind. However, before she knew it, it was brushed off of her mind and was left forgotten.

When her attention returned from her thoughts to Mira, she noticed that the latter was staring at her quite intently as if she was studying her reaction to her words. Elizabeth held back the urge of taking a step behind once she realized that she wasn't standing but sitting on a chair actually. So instead she asked, being slightly unnerved by that intense stare. "Um… Is there something wrong…?"

"Eh? Ah, no, I apologize for my rudeness." Now it was Mira's turn to apologize. She put her fingers on her mouth and giggled slightly. She looked so mature and ladylike… so why was she acting so childishly around Trista? Her reactions to Trista's antics were the most dramatic to the point where she looked like a completely different, even Meliodas didn't lost his cool over that.

Then after a slight moment of silence where she closed her eyes deep in thought, Mira started to speak. "I would say that the first time when I met her would be quite a long time ago, at least from your perceptive…"

* * *

_I don't remember exactly when we first met… especially since our perceptive of time is different from the others… but I remember perfectly the moment of how I met her._

_My mentor, superior and predecessor who raised and taught me everything I knew suddenly cancelled a whole day of lessons._

_The me of that time was childish and seeked more playing than studying. Moreover, an additional free day is something that the past me, who was hoping for more freedom, would be really elated about._

_But more than anything this puzzled me._

_After all, even though he is very kind and soft-spoken, he's also very strict and scary when it comes to the matters he considers as serious, and proper education is among them. It was particularly strict on me since I would become his successor._

_And then, he called me over, saying that there was something he needed to tell me…_

_The past me ran through the corridors and finally arrived at his study room. When I opened the door, my mentor was there, chastising me softly for my lack of thoughtfulness when I forgot to knock at the door._

_He then gently pushed someone forward, his hands on the shoulders of the person he presented in front of me._

_The first thing that caught my attention were a pair of heterochromia eyes. A vivid blue and green, however those eyes were blank as if they were glass balls._

_Then there was the pale color of her platinum blonde hair, the color was varying under the perception of the light._

_And finally, the state in where she was actually. That girl who seemed to be younger than me had an unkept appearance, her boyish clothes were dirty and didn't suit her at all, and her hair disheveled, as if she just went through a war._

_My mentor didn't even cared about the shock obviously present on my face and just announced to me with his usual serene smile..._

_"I hope that the two of you would get along from now on."_

_—So, he told me as if he just randomly picked up a kitten on the road and entrusted it to me._

_Of course, the first thing we did was to give her a bath, it was a wonder why my teacher didn't have her do this first, and as expected the duty fell upon me, well it was obvious as my teacher is a male and being the gentleman that he is, refuse to touch a lady's bare skin._

_Her reaction to it was memorable, her indifferent expression broke and she looked at us with a mix of shock and wariness after the experience. Or rather, she looked like this particularly towards me._

_When she was properly cleaned up, she looked pretty as the western dolls that I have heard about, it was a shame that she didn't took care of her appearance properly; if she did then my first impression of her would be far more different._

_My teacher later told me with an amused smile that she wasn't used to hot baths, and since the water was too hot, she was under the assumption that I tried to cook her up._

_…What with that? Is there anyone who took a bath that isn't warm in this world? The thought of such a possibility itself sounded weird to me._

_It was an incredibly stupid reason and assumption, and it took quite a while to clear up that misunderstanding, especially since the other party always ran away when I tried to approach her._

_But after many trials, errors and difficulties, we somehow managed to reach a mutual understanding._

_My teacher then taught me that she came from the 'outside' and that from now on she was going to work with us._

_This was even more surprising. After all our kind hardly receive outsiders, but from what my teacher said to me, it was accepted on a mutual accord and that her presence would greatly benefits us._

_How could the presence of such a frail girl whose body seemed to be about to break from the slightest shock can help our cause? I didn't understand that proclamation at all. But since my teacher strongly recommended her skills, it made me slightly envious._

_I was happy at the beginning that there was a girl of my age with whom I could play around, but that hope soon turned into disappointment when she did nothing but read all the books present in our archives during her free time. I was annoyed at her aloof attitude and because of that, I tried to distance myself from her._

_And then it was decided that I would be assigned as her observer during the time when she would finally start her work. I complained to my teacher about that, "I can never get along with such a person!", so I said with a displeased expression on my face. But he just laughed lightly and didn't took me seriously, answering me that I should just try a bit more._

_And after more time passed, our relationship became more stable. I started to understand her a bit more, __the more time I spend with her,__ even though I was often thrown off by her antics most of the time... I even thought that it started to become less annoying and more fun when I noticed myself getting slowly using to it._

_My teacher who saw the slight and slow but definite change smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. If one day, I could make her left her walls and open up, then..._

**_(...However, all hope for such a thing to happen were crushed when that day, that event happened.)_**

* * *

"—So, as you can see Princess Elizabeth, at the beginning we didn't get along well at all, quite the contrary!" Mira sighed in an exasperated manner as she had finished her short introduction.

"It sounds like you had a very hard time." Elizabeth who listened silently to everything Mira said, giggled at the latter's dramatic gestures, intonation and expression during the tale, as if the latter was performing a scene of a theater play.

"You don't know how much it was hard for me to even make her remember and say my name! And it's quite a simple one! She hardly talked to me unless I called out to her first and the only things she said were 'I see', 'Understood' and 'Is that so?'! What with these responses that don't even exceed 3 words?!"

"Trista-san was like this in the past, huh? I thought that she didn't spoke much, but I guess it's already a big progress compared to the time you knew her."

"…Princess Elizabeth, I'm actually expressing my bad experiences, and yet you are enjoying this? Just because you're the only one who had yet became her victim…!" Mira looked at Elizabeth with a disapproving gaze as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

_'She is making Trista-san sounds like a serial killer.'_ Elizabeth couldn't help but think so before raising her hands hastily in defense as she smiled nervously in response, "I-It's not like this! It's just that… even though you were complaining, it was as if you had a lot of fun Mira-san."

"…" Her answer was enough to make Mira go speechless as her earlier irritation was now completely gone, only to be replaced by a surprised expression. Then her gaze went downward, and she admitted in a begrudged manner, "…Yes. If I must admit it truthfully… even though she caused many messes for me to clean after, too much things happen at once and there isn't a single moment where I could think 'I'm bored'."

She didn't want to admit it truthfully and Elizabeth smiled in an amused manner at Mira's unhonest reaction. "Mira-san and Trista-san sure get along well!"

"Through all the interactions you have witnessed between us, from where did you even get such an idea?!" Mira retorted in an outraged manner.

"Well… err… Ahaha…" Though Elizabeth did truly think so, she couldn't manage to find any words in order to describe her thoughts and just ended up laughing nervously. "But… didn't you came here because you wanted to check up on her? By traveling all the way here from… It was quite a dangerous thing to do though."

"I don't think that you are one who can say this, Princess Elizabeth. I heard from Trista-chan. That you were originally planning to go find the Seven Deadly Sins alone."

"Th-That was… well… B-But in the end Trista-san came with me so it doesn't count! A-And please don't tell Meliodas-sama about it!"

"Too bad for you, even if I didn't tell him about it, I think that Trista-chan has already did so."

"…!" Elizabeth let out a soundless shriek as her hands covered her face in embarrassment. She couldn't let out the possibility that Meliodas may have already questioned Trista about her personal motives of looking for the Sins for more precisions, even when she had given him her own explanation.

_'Could it be that he knew from the very start yet keep quiet about it?!'_ If so then what was his opinion of her under his usual calm face? Elizabeth didn't even dare to try to imagine it. Was it one of the reasons for why he always teased her, or he hardly took her seriously? Elizabeth has never so wished for a hole where she could hide herself in right now. She wouldn't even mind if the earth were to suddenly crack open under her and swallow her wholly.

"Well, isn't it fine? I mean… since Meliodas-san didn't say, anything it must mean he doesn't mind about it."

"But I do mind~!" Elizabeth cried out in a pitiful manner. She thought to herself that she was quite dependent on Meliodas' opinion on her and that it was weird, but even though she find it ridiculous herself, she can't help but feel that if his thoughts on her weren't good then it would be akin to the end of the world (for her at least).

In the moment, she ended up slamming her head against the table as Mira flinched by that sudden and reckless action that was unlike the usual princess, especially since the noise that was made between the contact of the table and the princess' head was rather loud.

"Uuh~ It's hurt…" Elizabeth groaned, her face still against the table and have forgotten temporarily all the mannerisms as a princess that had been drilled in her mind and body during her education due to the sudden emotion and pain and just concentrated herself on trying to bear the pain.

"P-Princess? Are you alright?" Mira asked worriedly. Even though she was the one who teased her, she didn't expect such an extreme physical reaction from the usual polite and graceful princess, so it was quite startling to her.

Elizabeth raised her face from the table and sat back properly on her chain before giving almost a pouting expression. "…Mira-san, that side of yours is strangely similar to Trista-san."

"…?!" Mira gasped in a soundless and dramatic way as her face became the pure definition of shock when she heard Elizabeth's words, it was as if she had been struck by thunder in this same moment. Elizabeth was pretty sure that she heard the sound of the roaring thunder and a thunder spark-like background scene behind Mira even though they were indoors.

"No way…?! Please tell me that you are just joking!"

"Well…"

"N-No way…?! Is it because I spent too much time with Trista-chan recently?! Even though I was being extra-careful about it, she started to influence me too?!" Mira didn't even hear Elizabeth's reply as she started to whisper to herself in a horrified manner, searching through all the possibilities that were running through her head and reaching a conclusion that she feared to be true.

Her skin turned unnaturally pale with a strange tint of blue around the forehead to her eyes and her teethes started to tremble with a 'katakatakata' sound as if she was paralyzed by the greatest fear of her life.

Elizabeth blinked blankly at this. It wasn't her intention to tease back Mira and her previous statement was just the result of her sulking, but to think that it would cause such a destructive comeback… It was then that something in Mira's previous words caught her attention.

_'Now that I think about it, she said "too"… Could it be that there was someone else in the past whose personality influenced by Trista-san?'_ Such a thought went through her mind, but it was nothing compared to the overreaction of the girl in front of her.

Elizabeth couldn't help but giggle slightly at that. This caught Mira's attention as she was now the one who was staring at her in an offended manner. The two of them have ironically exchanged their places and roles from earlier.

"It isn't funny!"

"W-Well it wasn't on purpose but… please consider it as a payback for earlier!"

"Y-You are surprisingly bold, aren't you? Princess… Well I guess that we can't judge people on their appearance…"

"I should say the same thing here…" Elizabeth's first impression of Mira was that of an elegant and mysterious person, yet it was soon ruined by the loud tantrums she threw after her daily interactions with Trista. Yet this didn't made Elizabeth think worse of her, it was just that everyone has their particular side, besides none of the people here can be considered as 'normal' if you base yourself on the common sense.

However, Elizabeth felt a bit happy, it was just like with Diane now, she felt that now she could get along better with Mira with how they forgot about all the formality when they were discussing. Even though she sometimes looked mature, Mira looked like a girl around Elizabeth's age (just like Diane if we forget the difference between their respective heights) and because of that, Elizabeth wanted to befriend with her if it was possible.

Mira pouted at the beginning but then a wry smile grew on her face as she laughed slightly. She then looked down on her intertwined hands and her expression turned somber. This alerted Elizabeth that a serious talk may begin from that point, "Actually… about the reason for why I came to see Trista-chan… it isn't only to check on her current condition."

"Is there another reason?"

"Yes…" Even though Mira was the one who brought it up, she seemed pretty hesitant to continue.

"Err… Mira-san? If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine…" Elizabeth didn't wanted to force her to talk if it was a delicate subject but Mira shook her head in a hesitant but still determined manner, "…No, I will say it properly."

And after another silence, Mira gulped down before opening her trembling lips and said the following words: " Actually…** someone close to us passed away**."

"…?!"

"…Since Trista-chan got along with that person really well, I thought that she should at least be informed of his death."

"…I see… and is this what you discussed with Trista-chan before Meliodas-sama and I came back?"

Mira nodded silently at her words and Elizabeth lowered her eyes solemnly. It was indeed a delicate subject to bring up, the death of someone of your surrounding wasn't something that could be taken easily, so it wasn't surprising that Trista reacted the way she did when she stormed out from the Boar Hat earlier.

"It may have hurt her, but I wanted her to know the truth from my mouth instead of letting her discover such a truth by herself…"

"I see… You must really care for her, aren't you?" Elizabeth said with sympathy and in a concerned manner while Mira nodded.

"Yes… It's because that I care for her, that I… that I…" But then her words start to trail off and she didn't meet Elizabeth's gaze anymore. Her hands grasped fistful of her skirt as she bites her lower lip and her shoulders start to tremble.

Elizabeth was worried about this reaction, Mira looked like she was enduring something desperately._ 'Maybe she is overcome by the emotions?'_

If someone around her were to die suddenly then Elizabeth would cry without doubt, was it the current case for Mira? Elizabeth stood up from her chair and extended a hand towards Mira with the intention of trying to comfort her, but—

"NO, IT'S WRONG!"

—But Mira suddenly stood up and slammed her hands against the table as she screamed so, making it tremble due to the strength put behind the action and a loud noise reasoned from the connection of her palm to the table.

The teacups and teapot that were on the table now floated in the air before crashing on the floor, letting out all their liquid content spill up and staining the floor.

"If I truly cared for her…" Mira looked up, showing finally her hidden expression to the shocked speechless Elizabeth as she literally spit out the next words, "If I truly cared for her then I wouldn't even come to see her!"

* * *

"…" A lone girl was walking outside she was completely drenched with her wet clothes sticking to her body as she didn't even try to find a shelter to hide herself from the storm and rest.

Even though the harsh wind and rain was hitting her without mercy from the front and making her hair dance wildly in the air, she didn't stopped walking, there was not a single hint of hesitation nor difficulties felt in her steps.

_"—Actually, the thing that I wanted to discuss with you is—__"_

The conversation that she had with a certain someone a few hours prior surged back into her mind. But even though her mind was occupied, her body still moved forward without feeling any hindrance.

_"Do you remember… the Professor?"_

The usually bold and noisy woman who stuck to her since the beginning of their reunion, seemed to have become strangely hesitant and quiet when she uttered those words. She remembered to have nodded to those words.

"…" For the first time in a while once again, she stopped in her tracks and looked upward, towards the sky. The moon was shrouded in thick clouds as dark as the night and completely blocking the light, to the point where she had a hard time to guess what time it must be actually.

Even though she was supposed to have a good night vision, she could hardly perceive anything around her right now. All she felt was the wetness of the rain touching her.

_"The Professor… is now deceased."_

So, the woman in front of her proclaimed after a long moment of hesitation, her face tense and pained as she was unable to keep a composed expression any further.

She gave an inaudible sigh before starting to walk again. To anyone who would witness this sight, she would look like a person trying to walk through a deluge, however nobody tried to even stop her, because nobody was seeing her actually.

She passed near them some people a little before, yet nobody was looking at her, though her attire, now darkened because of the wetness and could blend in the night, her hair was still pale enough to stand out clearly in the darkness of the night.

_'How did I answer back then?'_ So, she thought to herself in a drowsy manner. For some reason, her memories felt blurry at this moment. It's weird, isn't it? There shouldn't be any problems with her memory originally.

Yet the words that were previously addressed to her are still playing back inside her mind.

_"…No, he wasn't dragged in an accident or anything. It's just that…"_

When she received such an answer, what else did she answered back again…? She didn't remember well but taking account of her personality, she probably didn't answer anything savory or showed any signs of condolence.

_"…What do you mean by 'I see'?!"_

It was something normal to her. Death always occurred everywhere in the world and every life would eventually come to an end, there was nothing eternal. Therefore, it isn't surprising that there would be deaths around her, especially with the kind of 'cleaning' she used to do as a job under them.

Immortality too, in the end this was just a way to delay the unavoidable.

It was probably due to that that she wasn't good at comforting people, because she became used to it, but…

_"Don't act as if it has nothing to do with you!"_

The woman hit the table hard with both her hands, so strong to the point that the chair nearby fell down on the ground.

The usually smiling woman now raised her voice against her. Of course, this isn't the first time that such a thing happened, or rather it happened so many times that she couldn't even count it anymore, but…

_'…Such a fierce expression, it was the first time…'_

And then the words she said next was surfacing at once...

_"You are always like that! Do we even mean something to you?! Did you even feel something for us?! No! Of course not, you always act as if you can't feel anything!"_

**…!**

"…Ah—!"

The girl suddenly tripped on her feet and fell on the wet ground, the impact of her body hitting the ground caused water of the puddles to splash droplets in the air before they hit the ground and cause ripples on the other nearby puddles.

_'…I can't move…'_

For some reasons, her limbs refused to move as she wanted and her head felt strangely heavy, as if it was the reason for why she fell instead.

She put both her hands against the ground and tried to push herself up but couldn't even manage to sit down and instead turned her head slightly to look at the droplets falling from the sky.

"…It's cold…" She muttered out slightly in a whisper so low that it got covered by the sound of the rain hitting the ground.

Was it her body that felt cold?

Or was it her heart?

Or maybe it was both, the girl didn't know the answer to that question she thought to herself but there was one only thing she was sure of. Right now, even if her whole body felt cold from within and outside, only the palm of her hands felt burning hot and kept on burning further.

She wanted to rip off the bandages wrapped around them and cool the burning heat engraved in her hands within the nearby water puddles, but—

"…No, I'll probably be scolded again if I were to do so..."

So instead she raised her hands weakly towards the sky, as if she wanted to catch the falling droplets and let them cool her down. However, the droplets were immediately extinguished upon coming in contact with her bandages, or rather the glowing scars under them.

Seeing that the result of her attempts was useless, she gave up rather quickly with a sigh and dropped her strengthless hand back to the ground, with the rather sudden contact against being softened by the rain on the ground.

_'…Even though it's not like I didn't cared but…'_

Or rather, it was surprising even for her. It's not like she never caused deaths before, it's not like she has never killed before… but… none of them were people close enough to her before, nor they would end their lives of their own volition.

It's now the second time that such a thing happened because of her, and unlike the previous time, she wasn't even here to witness it, it just happened when she was away, and she only learned about it years later.

But still… why that man who always repeated to her the preciousness of life over and again, he whom she thought would choose to keep on living more than anything, why would him of all people choose the road of death? And moreover, something he inflicted on himself.

What did he go through for him to make such a choice?

What did he think of at the moment when he made that decision?

What were his last thoughts about it?

She couldn't understand anything about it.

_'…In the end, it was just as she said, I don't understand anything…'_ The girl thought to herself in a tired manner, having a hard time to keep her drowsy eyes and heavy eyelids open.

She didn't felt pain or anything, just an immense and familiar emptiness, a void spreading inside her without end, so wide and deep, as if it was trying to devour her whole. The shadow under her was becoming darker and was pulsing as if it was cheering happily for her current state, as if it was waiting for it to spread and burn everything down, in response to that, the scars pulsed stronger this time.

_"If only you never came, then the Professor wouldn't have died!"_

Those were the last words full of resentment and anger that Mira screamed at her before storming for, even the tears that was spilling from her eyes when she uttered those words were remembered vividly despite the girl's blurry mind.

_'…But why was she crying?'_ The girl—Trista thought before her consciousness completely shut off.

* * *

"The reason that I came here is because I care for her…? I can't even believe it myself when I try to say it!" Mira completely forgot about her earlier words about staying silent and not bothering the others, was now shouting out of her lungs.

Elizabeth just stared at her in a mix of shock and concern, unable to say anything.

Mira's hands that were placed against the table were trembling as droplets of water started to fall on the table.

"In truth, I know that it was something that couldn't be helped! I know that it wasn't that girl's fault that my master died, it was a choice that he made himself and who I am to stop him? But still I couldn't get rid of those hateful feelings no matter how much I tried! It couldn't help that she didn't know, it couldn't help that she reacted like that!"

"…"

"I know that this girl is just awkward, it's not that she can't feel anything, it's just that she has a hard time to express it! She spends so much time to restrain herself that she doesn't know how she feels anymore! But even knowing that, I still lashed out at her! Even though the Professor warned me many times about it! I still used her as a scapegoat in order to make me feel better! It wasn't false that I was worried for her well-being, but if I truly cared for her than I wouldn't have said anything about how the Professor died! I could just have announced his death without doing in the details… and… and…!"

Mira slowly fell to the ground, she then started to smash her fists against it as she keeps on crying. The tears on her face now clearly visible.

"It's because of us that she became like that, it didn't happen once but twice now! I know that it was a delicate subject for her and yet, I… I…! This is only the results of our wrongdoings, we always used her as we liked to do the dirty job for us, she never complained even once, but now that we have no longer use for her we threw her away. I was afraid to meet her; I was afraid that she would resent me. But no! She treated me like usual. I was grateful and yet I was angry, 'why is she so easygoing when I'm having such a hard time, it's not fair, I want her to suffer too'! This is what I actually thought!"

It didn't take Elizabeth a while to understand that Mira was in despair right now. However, she didn't understand what was happening right now. Just a while ago, Mira was agreeing to her words with a smile and one second later she deny it furiously while bursting into tears.

The content of her words made her feel confused and she didn't knew how to react or what to think about them. However, there was one thing that Elizabeth was sure of right now and that was…

"When I saw this expression of shock on her face when I looked at her, I felt so horrible, I realized once again of how much of a horrible person I was, but I couldn't even apologize, instead I ran away! I ran away and acted as if nothing happened. Even though she accepted everything I said silently! It's strange but even though I wanted to see that expression on her face, the moment when I truly see it, I just want to cry…!"

Mira buried her bloody hands in her face and once again start to cry, Elizabeth's shock turned into sadness as she looked down at the pitiful figure in front of her_. '…That person__—__Mira-san, she is suffering a lot right now.'_

"I-I don't even have the right to call myself her friend…!"

However, since when? And why? Elizabeth knew nothing of that. Even though she could ask, her concern can be received as hurtful by the other party as it didn't seem like something that was easy to say, and perhaps it was something she didn't wanted to say to begin with it.

_'In the end all I can do is just stand here and listen… why am I so powerless?'_ Elizabeth thought to herself, feeling resentment to her incapable self who was even unable to comfort a crying person in front of her.

_"I can at least be there to listen to your worries!"_

"…" Elizabeth widened her eyes when she remembered those words she just said to Meliodas before he left and then gave a self-mocking smile.

_'I can't believe it. Even though it was my own words, how could I have forgotten them in such a short time?'_ Was it her own clumsiness or perhaps the shock of all those sudden events that keep on piling up at once? She didn't know and she wouldn't try to know, she wasn't going to make any further excuses.

Instead of that she would try stop overthink things and act directly.

_'Just like Meliodas-sama does when he is fighting.'_

However, her battle was a completely different one from the physical brawls he seemed to be used to.

Elizabeth took a deep breath before crouching down in front of Mira's prostrating form as she gently called to her, "Mira-san."

"…" Mira slowly raised her tear-stained face and widened her eyes upon seeing her. "…Princess… Elizabeth…?" It seemed that she had completely forgotten her presence here during her emotional breakdown. Then her attention turned back to her bloodstained fists as she showed a bitter smile, "I-I showed you something pathetic, didn't I?"

Elizabeth silently shook her head in denial before placing a hand on Mira's shoulder. "About what you said previously Mira-san. I don't believe that it is true."

"Eh…?"

"I don't know what happened between you and Trista-san, but I can say that for sure. Trista-san isn't going to hate you."

"H-How can you be so sure of it? I mean, you just met her recently, didn't you?"

"It's true but… I don't know either, I can't explain it, but I just feel it's the case. No, I'm certain of it." For some reason, her heart was telling her so, she didn't know why or where that idea came from, but she feel that she could trust it without any doubt. That she, isn't _**a child**_ who would hold a grudge forever.

"Besides, even friends fight from time to time, right? At the beginning, my relationship with Diane wasn't very good, I could tell pretty much that she hated me but see? Now we managed to overcome our differences and get along so well! …Though I don't even know how it happened." Elizabeth laughed sheepishly while Mira looked at her incredulously.

"No, no, no. This is nowhere near your usual friends' quarrels."

"Even I lashed out at my sister once! When I learned that I was adopted, I was afraid that they would eventually distance themselves from me, so I got away from them first. We got into a fight and I said many horrible things I thought I would never be able to take back. But we made up and it made me realize how foolish I was for even being worried about such a thing; it was pretty one-sided."

"No, like I said it isn't that—"

"But it's something similar, right? It can't be that much different."

"…"

"No fights last forever, there will always be a day where we can smile with everyone once again. That's why please don't worry Mira-san. After all you do care for Trista-san, and I'm sure that she would understand if you were to apologize. Just like you did earlier, say everything you felt, and it would definitely get through."

"Still… I… even if we do eventually make up, how would I…"

"Friendship isn't a one-sided thing. And as you said, Trista-san is quite awkward, you must be really close to be able to tell that much from her, I didn't know it at all, me. And Trista-san also knows a lot about Mira-san. The reason for why she is denying you being her friend is probably because she is shy. So please don't worry anymore, Meliodas-sama would definitely find Trista-san and when he would bring her back, please talk to her."

"...Is that thought also from your unexplainable feeling?"

"No, this is from my personal trust in him."

"...Ahaha... What with that weird answer? Pff!" Mira started to laugh and it made Elizabeth feel relieved that after her outburst she could still do so. So it means that she would be able to recover from it, right?

But as Mira laughed, tears started to spill again from her eyes and even if she wiped them it didn't stopped, on the contrary it start to intensity itself further like an unstoppable torrent and at the end, Mira broke in tears despite her unsuccessful attempt to restrain herself from crying.

"…Uuh! WAAAAHHHHHH!" Mira started to cry again and before Elizabeth knew it, Mira jumped in her arms and started to cry like a child.

After a few moments of hesitation and panic, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Mira and gently patted her head, waiting for her to cry everything out and calm herself down. She didn't cared about how her clothes start to become wet as long as Mira feel better. But there was one last thing, however, that troubled her.

_'…Even though I said all those things earlier, how am I going to make up with Meliodas-sama when he would be back…? Hopefully he wouldn't be too angry…'_ Elizabeth prayed sincerely in her heart.

* * *

"Dammit, where the hell is she?!" Meliodas cursed in impatience as he switched his gaze to right to left without stopping running. If his comrades were to witness him in his current state, then without doubt all of them would say that 'it isn't like Captain to lose his cool like that'.

However, it's already been a few hours since he started to search, but he didn't even find a single clue to where Trista was. Taking account of the fact that he is still searching through the rain and that he had yet found her, it wasn't surprising that he became impatient enough to drop his usual composed façade.

His current feelings were more of annoyance about how he had yet found the girl despite all his efforts instead of worry for the girl's well-being and that impression made him realize something.

_"For you to be looking for her even in such circumstances, she must be pretty important, huh? I hope that you'll find her soon!__"_

These words that he heard from the shopkeeper he questioned before now left him in an unsure state.

_'Triss? Important?'_ Just those words were enough to make him cringe slightly. And the realization of his own reaction caused a slight feeling of guilt to spread in his hearts.

Despite how close they appeared to be… or so he was often told, Meliodas actually keeping a certain distance from Trista, ever since he met her for the first time. The way that she seemed to be able to pierce through any of his façades just by a single glance was scaring him.

If it was Merlin who knew him the longest among everyone here it would be understandable, even he was pretty sure that he understood Merlin better than anyone here due to their long relationship.

If it was Elizabeth then it would be even more understandable, and he didn't need to explain the reasons behind it, that girl always managed to say the words he wanted to hear the most at the moment he wanted to hear them the most.

But Trista was different, he only knew her for those last 16 years so the time between the two can be considered as short in comparison of Merlin, though it was longer than the time he spent with the Seven Deadly Sins, there was also a large gap of 10 years of absence that was shared with all of them.

He didn't found any of the awkwardness he had when he was with Trista during the moments he had with his Sins comrades, they were able to get along so well because of mutual understanding, especially with Ban whom Meliodas feel that both are extremely similar in not only their personalities but also their past experiences, from what he could have witnessed during the latter's sleep talking, to which Meliodas could relate a lot of familiary.

Yet she is able to read him so well, as if she knew everything about him, even though he hardly revealed anything about himself. From which source did she know it? How could she tell what he was thinking about? It was as if she knew him forever, and he didn't even know why, he didn't remember to have met her somewhere in the past. Though he can't deny that there is a something about her that hit him as familiar… well those two facts are contradicting each other often in his mind.

_'…Even though I hardly know anything about her…'_

For example, he never knew in the past that she had a sweet tooth up until recently. …And that was only the beginning of the list. He discovered a lot of things about her in this short journey, which he never knew during the long years they were acquainted with each other.

Well of course she hardly revealed anything about herself but…

_"—This isn't because you are not interested but simply that you are afraid to know—"_

_'…Yeah, even though I don't want to admit it, what Mira said is true.'_

The way she said it makes him wonder if she felt the same as he currently did.

Indeed, he was afraid to learn the answer to his questions, not because Trista herself scared him but because he felt instinctively that if he were to discover who she is, he would regret it deeply and it would haunt him forever. He didn't know from where that feeling came from, but it felt so absolute inside him.

"…" Meliodas stopped in his tracks and looked down. He was drenched from head to toe and he felt freezing and exhausted, his strong endurance during the battle has yet reached its limits, but it's more his mental exhaustion that made him slow down.

All he wanted to do was to stop searching, go take a hot warm bath and go to sleep, yet the thought that Elizabeth is waiting for not only his return, but both their return together, was enough to give him strength to keep going.

_'…I never even bothered to ask anything about her… but if I were to ask her questions… would she actually answer? But more than anything right now, how can I find her…?'_ Such a thought went through Meliodas' mind was he set a foot forward…

The only place he knew where she was previously was the underground library where Trista was always present and the attic, and of course she isn't in both actually. He didn't know her preferences so he wouldn't know where she likes to go or to be most of the times.

…Besides the empty and void-like expression she showed a glimpse of just before leaving didn't gave away any hints…

Once again Meliodas sighed deeply before raising his head upward, looking at the still raining sky as he used his hand to brush his fringe slightly backward…

"…Triss… just answer already… I'm tired, let's just go back, okay? Elizabeth is waiting… I promise that I won't hold one against you for it…" Meliodas muttered in a whisper, he didn't had the thought or intention that he would even receive an answer, after all it was so low that he barely heard it himself even though he was the one who said it. He didn't even knew what kind of emotions he put in his words, neither did he understood what he was trying to convey right now.

But then, right after he finished saying it…

***…Thump—***

"…?!" Meliodas gasped sharply once as his eyes opened in shock.

Suddenly, all his seven hearts beat once together, at the same moment, reasoning in a single and only heartbeat. The surprise and the feeling coming from it was so strong that it managed to snap Meliodas out of his trance, waking him up completely from his earlier tiredness and sleepiness.

And then, for the first time since the beginning of his search, Meliodas had the feeling that now he could see clearly around him, at least clear as day even though it was the night right now.

—_As if something unfinished that he didn't knew nor understood had finally be connected to the other part at this moment…_

And then his foots started to move forward of their own, before gaining more momentum and before he noticed, he was running once again, at his full speed, even though he thought that he had no more strength to even do that.

He exited the town and headed towards a direction that was completely unknown to him, it would be better for him to analyze more the situation and environment around him instead of charging like that, but even though his mind understood it, his body refused to listen to him as it didn't even stopped even for a small moment since the beginning of his sprint.

**I****t's over there…**

_Where?_

**It's situated towards that direction…**

_But what it?_

Meliodas finally stopped at some point, his hands were on his knees keeping him from crouching on the ground, his breathing was rough and ragged as if he forgot to breath the whole time during his sprint.

When his breathing calmed down, Meliodas took the time to look around him, and as expected he wasn't in the town anymore… or rather he couldn't even see the town anymore as he turned around, moreover he didn't knew where he was so one could say that for once, he was completely lost. And it was quite rare since he usually travels a lot.

But then he settled his gaze into what was in front of him before his eyes widened slightly and then soon narrowed slightly, a familiar exasperated grin started to spread on his lips.

"…Seriously… a little more and you're gonna fall, you know? Triss…"

In front of him, there was Trista who was laying on the ground, just like him she was completely wet because of the rain but there was also mud that was getting on her dress and her long pale hair was now of a slightly darker color due to the rain and the dirt. And just at a few centimeters away from her, there was the end of a cliff…

_'How did she even ended up there…?'_ Meliodas shook his head tiredly as he thought so to himself.

He was probably so drenched that he didn't even noticed, but the earlier ever so persistant rain has finally stopped and the light of dawn started to clear through the clouds...

* * *

_'…Warm…'_ Trista thought drowsily as she felt her consciousness surfacing back to awareness. Even though her eyes were closed, she felt that she could feel some light through her eyelids. It was bright yet not blinding.

There was a certain sensation of warmth against her along with a strange feeling of floating in the air, it was strange, and she should originally be worried about the source, yet she felt a certain unfamiliar sensation of peace from it.

"…Good for you, though I'm freezing over here."

Trista frowned slightly upon hearing that voice, it sounded very familiar and she didn't think that she would ever mistake it for someone else… but if it isn't a mistake, then what else can it be? There's no way that him of all people would be here with her after all…

Or could it be that it was a selfish wish coming from her subconscious? If so then it would be better if she were to jump from a cliff right now than to admit it as the mere thought of it itself was enough to make her tremble in disgust.

"Oi oi oi… Come on, just answer me when I'm talking to you."

…Again… Okay, now it started to get weird.

Trista tried to force her trembling eyelids open, which she succeeded after a few more attempts only to find a golden mass in front of her sight. It was quite messy and there was a very familiar antenna sprouting on the middle of it.

She couldn't make out what was in front of her as it was still a little blurry, and after blinking a few more times, her vague vision started to clear up and she could see the details of her surroundings more clearly now.

'Were yellow flower sprouting from yellow grass?' Such a strange thought went through her mind as she reached towards it and pulled it in order to examinate it better.

"Owowowow! Don't try to tear it off forcefully! I'm not some kind of carrot you pull out from the ground!"

"…?!" Trista's sleepiness was completely blown away when she recognized and realized of who was the owner of said voice.

He turned his head slightly backward, his green eyes glancing at her slightly, "…Did you finally wake up? If so then I would like that you stop pulling on my hair."

It was impossible, it shouldn't be possible. There was no way that him of all people would be here! And yet here he was, his eyes, his voice, his hair, everything was showing that he was the real one. Though there was the possibility that it was a trap of an enemy Holy Knight, this idea soon disappeared, after all she would never mistake him for someone else.

"…Meliodas?" Trista tried to call out his name hesitantly…

"What? Are you still half-asleep, Triss?" …And he answered, nonchalantly, as if nothing happened, like he usually does.

Trista didn't know how to feel about that, there was at the same time a mix of relief and slightly of disappointment. But like Meliodas asked, she slowly let go of Meliodas' hair antenna (which was the yellow sprout she thought that she grabbed earlier). Meliodas then turned his head back to the front.

It was then that Trista realized that both of them were moving, even though she didn't felt her legs touching the ground, she was placed a bit higher than Meliodas but was close enough to feel his warmth, on her shoulders there was a black sleeveless vest, which she recognized as the vest of Meliodas' bar uniform… along with the realization of the situation where she is currently receiving a piggy back ride from Meliodas.

"…What... on earth…"

"…'is going on', is it? Well to summarize it simply, I don't know what and how you did but you almost managed to fall off from a cliff, you collapsed under the rain which led to this situation where I'm pigging you back to the Boar Hat."

"…"

"Triss? Got a cat in your tongue?"

"…down…"

"'Can't hear you, repeat again, and louder please."

"…Put me down!"

"Woah?! Stop struggling, you're gonna fall… and so will I! Keep going like this and I'm really dropping on the muddy ground! Besides you can't even stand on your own, can't you?! I'm wasting what's left of my strength just to carry you so just stay put!"

"…" Upon hearing that, Trista immediately went still, this reaction surprised Meliodas slightly. "What? You can be surprisingly obedient at times… I wish that you could be like that more often, do you know how many troubles you caused me up until now?"

"…"

"…Triss? What's wrong? You're not noisy like usual, you got fever or something?" Meliodas was about to turn around to look at Trista but before he could, Trista spoke. "…Meliodas…"

_'…I have never expected him of all people to be here, he has no reason to be here and yet here he is…'_ Trista's hands on Meliodas' shoulders tighten their grips in a reflex as she took a deep breath.

Though she was still puzzled over the reason of his presence, right now while the two of them seems to be alone together without anyone who can overhear them, it was an opportunity she couldn't miss.

There was something that she felt that she definitely needed to tell him If she could ever reunite with him, which is something she thought since a few years ago.

Perhaps it's due to what happened earlier but she felt that right now, she could honestly tell how she feels without being not honest.

"What, Triss?" Even though his response must have come just an instant after she called his name, to her the pause between her question and his answer seemed to have last like an eternity.

He may be surprised and puzzled over why she would suddenly say something like that, he may misunderstand on the reason for why she says that, he may think of her as an even more weirdo than she already is supposedly, but even so this time for sure she will say it, the feeling that she had for those last thousands of years.

"Meliodas—_I'm sorry_…"

_'For everything that happened up until now, **about everything that will happen from now on**… For all the problems that I cause, I'm sorry…'_

She wouldn't seek for forgiveness, she wouldn't even dare to beg for it, but at least... she want to apologize.

* * *

"Meliodas—_I'm sorry_…"

"…"

_'…Seriously, what's going on?'_ After receiving an unexpected apology from Trista, Meliodas was actually a bit at loss on how to react. He was often being told that he was someone unpredictable, so it was rare for him of all people, to become speechless.

Yet today, surprises were raining down like rain, one after the other. First there was Trista's unnatural runaway, followed by Meliodas' argument with Elizabeth and now that.

_'Well it's true that she was acting a bit out of character today, but this is way too much…'_ Wherever it was the soft-spoken voice she is currently using to speak or the way she was clenching so frailly the cloth fabric on his shoulders… everything that she did actually was against the attitude she usually showed.

'Meek' and 'Trista' don't go well together.

_'To begin with it about what was she apologizing for?'_ And what kind of emotions were put inside the words she just said?

Though those apologies were something he actually wanted to hear from her all along, now that he actually received them, he felt at loss on how to react. Even though he should be happy about it, yet he hardly felt any joy from that.

Why?

Was he too distraught by her unusual attitude?

Was he simply believing that she is incapable of even apologize due to her too blunt attitude?

Was he too tired from the search under the rain that his reactions themselves are slowed down?

Or was it because too many surprised things that left him speechless happened one after the Suddenly, Meliodas remembered the words he exchanged with his comrades by hazard and the way each of them described their opinions of Trista.

To Ban, Trista was an amusing girl whose antics made him laugh to no end.

To Diane, she was someone mysterious that she didn't understood well right now.

To King, she was a weirdo who suddenly attacked him out of nowhere with everyday tools that she brandished from nowhere.

And, then Elizabeth…

_"—__She is a person, just like us!"_

…Elizabeth's words rang one more time in Meliodas' mind. Even though that she just met Trista not even a few weeks ago, she already came to care for her so much… Compared to him who knows her for years… he felt a huge difference… not only about her but also all their comrades… even Hawk considered Trista as a comrade, annoying, but still a comrade nevertheless.

…But then what was she to him? Did he even consider her as an 'individual'? …Or did he instead consider her as…?

"…"

Just the thought of continuing his words itself was unpleasant as the realization struck him and once again, he realized how much of a horrible person he is all over and again… however this time, there is 'something' that changed from 'before'.

"…It's okay…" Meliodas spoke out, his voice coming out in a surprisingly gentle manner that he didn't even thought as possible, especially towards Trista of all people. It seems that she noticed it too, as suddenly she stilled on his back.

"I forgive you."

It was something that the previous him would never say, especially with all the problems this girl caused to him since the day they were acquainted. But he preferred the usual her than this frail her that seemed on the verge of breaking down just by the slightest breeze.

After all this was how their relationship worked since the first day.

She did something to annoy him,

He got irritated, exasperated and sometimes returned the favor,

And before they knew it the two of them talk to each other as if nothing ever happened,

Then things repeated all over and again…

This was how it was up until now and probably how it would be from now on.

He won't ask because the answer scares him, but he would listen to her wherever she let something slips… just like she did for him from 10 years ago, just like Elizabeth is ready to actually do for her…

"—" The girl on his back was silent, but he could feel her tremble slightly.

Why? What kind of expression as she having right now in order to make such a reaction? He wouldn't ask that, nor would he turn around. Not only because he was afraid to find out… but also because he had the feeling that she didn't want to answer him, nor she wanted him to see the current face she was making.

Even though her clothes should be heavy now due to absorbing too much water from the rain, he could hardly feel her weight on his back, if he didn't had his arms wrapped around the fabric of her dress than he would have thought that there was almost nothing on his back, so much that she was incredibly light.

_'Does she even eat properly?'_ Meliodas wondered randomly before he widened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected concerned thought that just crossed his mind, something that he wouldn't have cared about before, noting that she would be alright even on her own…

_'How mysterious…'_ Not even a few hours ago, he considered her presence as stressful and a bit suffocating, especially since there was only the two of them there, but when she suddenly 'disappeared' he felt a strange sensation of loss, but now even that was filled. The uncomfortable feeling he felt started to dissipate a bit now.

"Let's just go back to where everyone is, okay, Triss?"

"…Yes, Elizabeth must be worried."

"I don't think that Elizabeth is the only one."

"…? Then who else?"

"Well…" When she answered him, he felt a slight relief, but now he was struggling for an answer. Apparently, she had a fight with Mira, and the Sins would probably be worried about her, but everyone seemed to be asleep at that moment, so the only answer left is…

"…Me?"

_'…Nah. I can't even believe it when I say it myself.'_ Meliodas shook his head at his own thoughts in a wry manner. After all he had hardly showed any worry towards Trista up until just recently, so those words sound hardly convincing. However, Meliodas was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't noticed that he let one word slip earlier…

"…?!"

"…? What's wrong Triss? Are you cold? You start to tremble quite a lot more compared to earlier, wait—WOAH?!" Meliodas screamed as he was suddenly pushed forward by a great strength from behind and lost his balance and fell straight into a puddle.

_'…Things started to turn better, and yet now we're back at square one…?!'_

Not being able to endure the feeling of the dirty water and mud sticking to his face and feeling a really familiar irritation well up inside him, making his body tremble in furry, Meliodas immediately straighten himself in a sitting position before turning around and glaring at Trista, "Oi, what was that for—Huh?"

However, he immediately went silent when he saw something unexpected in front of him. And seriously a lot of unexpected things happened today.

For some reason, Trista was wearing his bartender sleeveless jacket on her face, hiding it completely away from view like a veil, and her hands were holding it while trembling. This made Meliodas completely forgot about his earlier irritation and all.

"Err… Triss? Are you sure you didn't catch a cold or a fever? I can't see your face, but your ears are quite red—"

"…!"

"—and, wait, WOAH…?!" Suddenly a gust wind goes past him, forcing him to close his eyes for a second, but when he opened them again, he discovers with shock Trista is no longer in front of him.

Meliodas stood up and start to look around him and managed to catch a glimpse of Trista's now distant back running straight like a meteor crossing the sky at a lightning speed. Just where did the weary and frail girl from earlier went?

_'Woah… I knew she was fast but to such an extend… Wait, it's not the time to think about that!'_ Meliodas did a re-take before he shouted at Trista, "Wait a sec, Triss! We have replaced the Boar Hat's location; do you even know where it is?! …Ah, she fell."

As he said, Trista did a magnificent faceplant and her body slides onto the wet ground, but she immediately managed to stand back up and sprint at full speed again.

Meliodas sighed deeply before running after her once again. How strange, even though he had the intention of taking a step forward, why did he had the impression he took two backwards?

* * *

Mysteriously, Trista somehow managed to reach the Boar Hat on her own even without Meliodas guiding her, just how did she managed to do this? Meliodas didn't knew, but when he arrived at his turn, another trouble started…

"Meliodas-sama! For some reason, Trista-san just ran through the door without saying anything and jumped straight under the bed! Now she refuses to come out no matter how much we ask! What on earth happened?!"

"…This is what I want to know." She once called him a dog but is she a cat?!

Because of Trista's unexpected actions, all of Mira's earlier preparations for an apology along with the fact that Elizabeth and Meliodas were in the middle of a fight were left completely forgotten as now all of them tried to get the now no-longer doll-like girl but more cat-like girl to get out from the bed of Meliodas and Elizabeth's room.

By the way, none of them noticed but all the other members of the Sins showed wry smiles to each other, showing that they never slept through the whole thing and were only pretending while waiting for both of their returns.

* * *

**A/N.: For those who expected Trista to give a love confession to Meliodas, please raise your hand! ...Just kidding XD I don't know if someone truly actually thought that, but i wrote it like this on purpose, to make it a little misleading, I hope that the readers are not angry towards me. I'm sorry, it took me too much time to write all of this and I don't have the time to put a REVIEW CORNER, so i hope that you'll forgive me if I push it to the next chapter.**

**I'm recently busy with the new school term in ****University, so I don't know if I'll be able to update quickly or not. I'm sorry if it takes more time than this one but I promise that I'll not give up on this fic! Everyone have a nice day and thank you for reading my fanfic and please review (^^)**


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